International Students

The International PEN has taken another step forward in its fight to protect writers. Throughout the year it has been defending Russian PEN from closure by the government, initiating dialogue for peace in the Middle East and assisting threatened writers to resettle in safer countries.

The news of the persecution of the German intellectuals disturbed PEN.

Then, still in 1933, came the Burning of the Books and the German Center failed to protest. Two weeks after that PEN held its congress in Dubrovnik. The burning of books in Germany and the fact that the greater number of well-known German writers are living in exile cannot be ignored by an association which has always worked for the free interchange of ideas through literature.

The atmosphere worsened when the German Center delegates arrived, clearly having been given their “intstructions:” .Henry Canby read the resolution which opened with a general statement of principle:

Mr Wells refused to bargain.

It passed unanimously, the German delegates voting with the rest.

The German delegation was determined that he should not be permitted to speak. The Congress erupted into chaos. Toller was permitted to speak by majority rule.

PEN formally expelled the German Center at its next international meeting and turned its attention to the needs of the exiled German writers who were flocking to London. The committee organized parties. The refugees formed the first of PEN’s exile centers: The German-speaking Writers Abroad.The Austrian and Italian PENs were both in a state of upheaval. H.G. Wells was driven to emphasize PEN’s determination to champion freedom of literary expression.

As the thirties progressed and Europe seemed to be rejecting PEN’s ideals, HG Wells suggested launching a special fund for writers persecuted by their governments.Then in 1936 another blow fell as the Italian PEN announced itself solidly in favour of the Italian government and maintained that they were defending civilization and justice in Ethiopia. The protests worked and inJune 1937, Koestler wrote to PEN:

In London they were collecting money for Austrian and Czechoslovakian writers, sending food parcels to those in Catalonia.

In 1938 Storm Jameson became the first woman president and had immediately to protest to Italian PEN.

There were many exiled writers at the Congress of 1939, such as Ernst Toller and Thomas Mann of Germany. These and other writers like Jules Romains, the International President of P.E.N, spoke eloquently on the tyranny that existed then in Europe versus the freedom of the human spirit.

After the war, refugee writers in distress abounded and the funds ran out..

During the 1950s an Hungarian writer, Paul Labori, joined the English Centre and suggested an International Writers in Prison Committee to investigate the cases of writers imprisoned solely for their writings and opinions and to co-ordinate the actions of the centres. Some Hungarian writers got to the United States and work was found for them through various sponsoring organizations. The President of the Hungarian Center had written a three-page justification of its positiom..In 1959, the American Center issued its own “call to conscience:” an open letter to the Hungarian government with 259 signatures. The Hungarian Center and its new president were permitted to attend the Congress that year in Rio de Janeiro.The Congress in Rio de Janeiro set up a permanent Writers in Prison Committee. was the delegate to this Congress.

At the Congress, the American Center sponsored a resolution which was passed unanimously.

The international tone of the New York Congress was largely due to Arthur Miller being the International President. The American Center protested immediately to the State Department; Fuentes sent his “profound gratitude,” noting that “once more P.E.N. has proved its immense value as an active force in defense of the freedom of writers.”

When Boll turned to the subject of the struggle to free writers from prison, he could only advise P.E.N. never to be discouraged. One of the most constructive acts of the past year had been the establishment of an emergency fund by the Dutch Center to be used for both the families of writers in prison and the writers themselves if censorship had taken away their livelihood. This Committee was responsible for investigating cases of imprisoned writers in many different countries around the world, including Chile, Czechoslovakia, Korea, the Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Taiwan, South Africa, Turkey, the USSR, and virtually anywhere else on the planet where writers were incarcerated. On October 7, 1976, a letter was sent by the American Center to the U.N. Mission, congratulating the Bangladesh government on the release of Custers and requesting information on the status of other writers imprisoned in Bangladesh. The American Center kept track of scores of cases of small struggling newspapers which were continually threatened out of existence by the government.

Defending Writers and Freedom of Expression Worldwide – International PEN

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