International PEN
PEN International (International PEN to 2011), the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere.
Other goals included: to emphasise the role of literature in the development of mutual understanding and world culture; to fight for freedom of expression; and to act as a powerful voice on behalf of writers harassed, imprisoned and sometimes killed for their views.
PEN originally stood for "Poets, Essayists and Novelists", but now includes writers of any form of literature, such as journalists and historians.
It is the world’s oldest human rights organization and the oldest international literary organization.
Read more about International PEN: Role of PEN, PEN Affiliated Awards, PEN Charter, Writers in Prison Committee, Memorials, Notable Members of International PEN, Presidents of PEN International and English PEN Centre
Famous quotes containing the word pen:
“If you tie a horse to a stake, do you expect he will grow fat? If you pen an Indian up on a small spot of earth, and compel him to stay there, he will not be contented, nor will he grow and prosper. I have asked some of the great white chiefs where they get their authority to say to the Indian that he shall stay in one place, while he sees white men going where they please. They can not tell me.”
—Chief Joseph (c. 1840–1904)