PEN President Events
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Discurso de John Ralston Saul Ceremonia de Apertura 11 Festival Internacional de Poesía de Granada Febrero 17, 2015 Granada, Nicaragua Solo bajo la mas grande trepidación es que un filosofo da un discurso a poetas. Todos sabemos – nosotros novelistas, historiadores – que, sí existe una aristocracia entre los escritores, es dominada por los príncipes […]
Click headline to read PEN International press release:
January Letter from John Ralston Saul, International President, to the PEN Membership. January 26, 2014 Dear PEN Members, Dear Friends, Last week in Paris I went to the site of the Charlie Hebdo murders with Emmanuel Pierrat of French PEN, Jarkko Tontti, Carles Torner and Sarah Clarke from our Secretariat. We placed flowers and a […]
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7:00pm. Southminster United Church. 15 Aylmer Ave. JRS speech will be joined by guests TBC. The unstoppable comeback of the Aboriginal peoples.
JRS to give acceptance speech at the University of Winnipeg for Honourary Doctorate of Law with central themes including citizenship & the aboriginal comeback. Click to be redirected to a live stream.
Президент Алмазбек Атамбаев встретился с участниками 80-го Конгресса PEN International
A report from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on our recent PEN International delegation.
JRS to present Key Note speech to the graduates of the IE Business School in Segovia, Spain. Key note address will relate to Voltaires Bastards. The graduation ceremony will be broadcast live at 11:15 local time over the internet following the link:
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JRS to attend meeting with PEN Deutschland & PEN International Board members in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany. Mayor Hermann-Josef Pelgrinstreet to invite German PEN President Josef Haslinger & JRS to sign the Golden Book at Schwäbisch Hall Council Chamber.
JRS to attend Buenos Aires Book Fair in Argentina from May 3rd – May 9th. Visit to include roundtable “Free The Word!” with Argentine authors including Martín Kohan, Luisa Valenzuela, Pola Oloixarac and Carlos Gamerro. They will discuss the history of PEN International in Latin America and freedom of expression.
JRS to speak at National Arts Centre, Ottawa: “Secrecy, Surveillance and Free Expression.” Speech is in celebration of World Press Freedom hosted by the Canadian Committee for World Press Freedom
JRS delivers the keynote address to the World Press Freedom Day Luncheon in Ottawa. Sauls speech is titled “Secrecy, Surveillance and Free Expression.”
JRS to speak RE: “A Fair Country: Truth or Tall Tale?” FREE event questions three Canadian myths. Church of the Redeemer. 162 Bloor St. W – April 30th, 7pm.
JRS to visit publishers and writers in Myanmar at Yangon PEN Centre.
JRS to visit publishers and writers in Myanmar at Yangon PEN Centre.
JRS Introduces Ray Monk, biographer of Wittgenstein at Jaipur Festival. Sat Jan 18th, 18:00
Hon. Bill Graham, Chancellor, Trinity College, in conversation with Dr. John Ralston Saul. “Voltaire’s Bastards Twenty Years on: What’s New?”
PEN International presents the PEN New Voices Award at the Moscow Non-Fiction Book Fair
John Ralston Saul leads a PEN International Delegation to Moscow, Russia
John Ralston Saul Chairs the PEN International Congress in Reykjavik
John Ralston Saul addresses the ICORN membership at their plenary session in Krakow, Poland
John Ralston Saul presents a review of the PEN missions to the members of the WiPC in Krakow
John Ralston Saul attends the PEN Writers in Prison Committee meeting in Krakow, Poland
John R. Saul participates in a panel about PEN and Literature at the Subversive Festival in Zagreb
John Ralston Saul attends the PEN Peace Committee meeting in Bled, Slovenia
Hay Festival Cartagena: John Ralston Saul and Francine Prose in conversation with Jonathan Bastian
Hay Festival Cartagena: John Ralston Saul and others in conversation with Peter Florence
John Ralston Saul leads a PEN International Delegation to Turkey
John Ralston Saul attends the 78th PEN International Congress in Gyeongju, South Korea
John Ralston Saul meets with Sydney PEN and the Australian Society of Authors
John R. Saul delivers a speech on The Girona Manifesto at the Forum mondial de la langue français
John Ralston Saul attends the Forum mondial de la langue française in Quebec City
John R. Saul meets with the Board of Directors and Committee Chairs of PEN International in London
John Ralston Saul attends the Ural Altay Network meeting in Simferopol, Ukraine
John Ralston Saul attends the annual meeting of the Translation and Linguistic Rights committee
John Ralston Saul attends the PEN Peace Committee meeting in Bled, Slovenia
John Ralston Saul attends the annual ICORN General Assembly meeting in Stockholm
John Ralston Saul attends the first Balkan Network meeting in Belgrade, Serbia
John Ralston Saul attends the London Book Fair
John Ralston Saul attends the Chairmans Breakfast at the London Book Fair
John Ralston Saul visits the PEN Centre in Djibouti
John Ralston Saul visits Ethiopian PEN and takes part in the 1st Annual Gral Meeting of PEN Ethiopia
John Ralston Saul visits Korean PEN in Seoul
John Ralston Saul leads a PEN International Delegation to Mexico City
John Ralston Saul attends the Nordic Forum on Freedom of Expression in Stockholm, Sweden
John Ralston Saul attends the PAN African Network meeting in Dakar, Senegal
John Ralston Saul attends the Press Conference of the German PEN Centre at the Frankfurt Book Fair
Frankfurt Book Fair: Presentation of the PEN International Publishers Circle
John Ralston Saul participates in the Dawit Isaak Manifestation event at the Göteborg Book Fair
John Ralston Saul attends the Göteborg Book Fair in Sweden
John Ralston Saul presents PEN Internationals Publishers Circle at the Göteborg Book Fair
John Ralston Saul attends the opening of the Literary Festival “Free the Word” in Belgrade, Serbia
JRS delivers the Opening Address at the 77th Annual PEN International Congress in Belgrade, Serbia
The 77th Annual PEN International Congress in Belgrade, Serbia
Literary Evening with John Ralston Saul. Presenting “The Collapse of Globalism” in Belgrade, Serbia
John Ralston Saul attends reception at the Canadian Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia
John Ralston Saul visits the Tunisian PEN Centre and meets with leading writers in Tunis
John Ralston Saul attends the Italian PEN Prize Ceremony in Compiano, Italy
Meeting with the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland
Meeting with Swedish PEN Centre (Stockholm, Sweden)
Speech: “The E-Book Economy” at FOCUS 2011 Conference (3:00pm, Villa Reale di Monza, Monza, Italy)
Meeting with PEN Club Italiano
John Ralston Saul attends PEN’s Translation and Linguistic Rights Committe Meeting in Girona, Spain
Speech: “Free Speech – On The Attack and Under Attack” (8:00pm, Centre Culturel La Mercè, Girona)
Speech: “Censorship for Sale”, at the Oslo Freedom Forum (9:15am, Christiania Theater, Oslo, Norway)
Speech as part of PEN Peace Committee Conference 2011 (11:00am, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)
John Saul speaks at “Working Day,” part of PEN American Center’s 2011 World Voices Festival
John Saul chairs panel titled “Terms of Engagement,” as part of English PEN”s Free the Word!, 5 PM
John Saul has discussion with Heidi Hautala, Chair, Subcommittee – Human Rights, European Parliament
John Ralston Saul attends WIPC Meeting in Brussels
John Saul attends meetings in Brussels with Viviane Reding, Vice President of European Commission
John Saul meets with László Tőkés, VP European Parliament, Human Rights Sub-Committee
John Saul meets with Kris Peeters, Minister-President of Flanders, with David Van Reybrouck
John Ralston Saul meets with PEN International staff in London
John Ralston Saul meets with PEN American Centre in New York City
Attending Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony for Liu Xiaobo with PEN leaders (Oslo, Norway)
John Ralston Saul participates in seminar organized by PEN International and Amnesty (Oslo)
John Ralston Saul meets UNESCO’s Sec. General, Mme Bokova, to discuss Freedom of Expression (Paris)
Participating in African Writer and the Challenges of the Times Conference (Cairo, Egypt)
PEN International meeting wih Amr Moussa, Secretary General of the Arab League (Cairo, Egypt)
Visit to International PEN office (London, UK)
Meeting with Mayor of Reykjavik, Jón Gnarr (Reykjavik, Iceland)
Meeting with Icelandic PEN (Reykjavik, Iceland)
Meeting with Iceland’s President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (Reykjavik, Iceland)
The 76th Annual International PEN Congress (Tokyo)
Panel: Faith and Free Speech: Defamation of Religions and Freedom of Expression (Geneva)
Press Release Regarding Conclusion of International Seminar on Religious Defamation
PEN Intervention at European Parliament Sub-Committee on Human Rights (Brussels)
PEN Debate on Freedom of Expression with Dejan Anesteijvic, ICORN Writer in Exile (Brussels)
PEN Meeting with the Office of the European Union Development Commissioner (Brussels)
Press Conference on Situation in Tunisia with Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Sihem Bensedrine (Brussels)
PEN Speech at the Committee of Translations and Linguistics Rights Conference (Barcelona, Spain)
PEN Meeting with Roberto Varela, Galician Minister of Culture (Santiago de Compostela, Galicia)
ICORN General Assembly (Frankfurt)
PEN Meeting with José Luís Baltar Pumar, President of Ourense (Ourense, Galicia)
PEN Meeting with Alberto Núñez Feijóo, President of the Xunta of Galicia
Co-Chair of the Fourth Ibero-American Foundation of PEN Conference (Santiago de Compostela, Galicia)
Meeting with Suomen PEN (Helsinki, Finland)
Meeting with Norsk PEN (Oslo, Norway)
Meeting with Svenska PEN (Stockholm, Sweden)
Meeting with Melbourne PEN (Melbourne, Australia)
Onstage Event: “Freedom and Globalization”, in support of the Melbourne PEN Centre (Melbourne)
PEN Meeting with Rt. Hon. Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia (Canberra, Australia)
PEN Meeting with Hon. Tony Abbott, Leader of the Opposition (Sydney, Australia)
PEN Gives Voice, Hosted by John Ralston Saul at the City Recital Hall (Sydney, Australia)
1st Annual Japan PEN-Canadian PEN Literary Festival at the Munk Centre for International Studies
Japanese PEN – PEN Canada Event (Toronto)
Remarks at the PEN Free the Word! London Festival (London, United Kingdom)
PEN Free the Word! Festival (London, UK)
Meeting with Haitian PEN (Quebec, Quebec)
42nd International Bled Conference and PEN Writers for Peace Committee Meeting (Bled, Slovenia)
42nd International Bled Conference and Annual Meeting of the Peace Committee of International PEN
Meeting with French PEN Club (Paris, France)
News & Statements
At The Ismaili Centre in Toronto, JRS joined Haroon Siddiqui, editorial page editor emeritus of the Toronto Star and former President of PEN Canada, in conversation about Siddiqui’s new book My Name is Not Harry. “Veteran Toronto Star editor Haroon Siddiqui, brown and Muslim, has spent a life on the media front lines, covering conflicts […]
“In recognition of his award-winning contributions to Canadian literature, his philosophies on social justice, interdisciplinary study, freedom of expression, and championing of Indigenous rights, the university proudly confers upon Mr. John Ralston Saul the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.”
JRS is joined by Eugene Benson, Zilla Jones, Rick Revelle and Anna Marie Sewell in contributing their perspectives on whether it is time to rename the Governor General’s Literary Awards for the Fall 2022 issue of Write. Write is The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) quarterly magazine available exclusively to its members. If you are […]
JRS is joined by The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Louise Dennys, Sturla Gunnarsson, Deepa Mehta, Ric Young and Bob Rae to talk about freedom of expression at The Ageless Film Festival in Toronto.
This piece was adapted from JRS’s opening remarks made at the reading of Rushdie’s work at the Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA) at Harbourfront Centre on Sept. 27, 2022.
Following the brutal attack on Salman Rushdie, JRS delivered the opening remarks at an event co-organized by the Toronto International Festival of Authors, PEN Canada, Penguin Random House Canada and Writers’ Trust of Canada. JRS’s remarks were followed by a solidarity reading from Rushdie’s works by Margaret Atwood, The Rt. Hon. Adrienne Clarkson, John Irving, […]
JRS delivered the keynote address at the PEN International Centenary Congress in September 2021. JRS spoke about his time as International President (2009-2015) and the continuing importance of PEN’s work fighting for freedom of expression, the rights of writers (including, crucially, those in prison or exile) and support for Indigenous and minority languages.
November 16, 2015 Dear PEN Members, Dear Friends, A last monthly letter to say thank you and to report on the 81st Congress in Quebec City. First, the obvious, we have a new President. Jennifer Clement, a wonderful novelist. She was President of PEN Mexico when we organized our first new style international delegation in […]
August 2015 Letter from John Ralston Saul International President of PEN International to the PEN membership. September 10, 2015 Dear PEN members, Dear friends, There are moments when civilizations throw away the ethical value of that word, civilization. They lose the credibility needed to be taken seriously. The question is, can they get it back? […]
August 2015 Letter from John Ralston Saul International President of PEN International to the PEN membership. September 15, 2015 Dear PEN members, Dear friends, There are moments when civilizations throw away the ethical value of that word, civilization. They lose the credibility needed to be taken seriously. The question is, can they get it back? […]
June 2015 Monthly Letter from John Ralston Saul, International President to the PEN membership July 09, 2015 Dear PEN members, dear Friends, For many people outside the world of writers, publishers, translators – whether we are writing for books or newspapers, blogs or the screen – it must seem that we lead contradictory lives. We […]
May Letter from John Ralston Saul International President, to the PEN membership. May 13, 2015 Dear PEN members, dear friends, This spring we undertook an ambitious three country intervention in Latin America. Sixteen PEN centres took part. We called it the PEN Summit of the Americas and it unfolded as we moved from Honduras to […]
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Discurso de John Ralston Saul Ceremonia de Apertura 11 Festival Internacional de Poesía de Granada Febrero 17, 2015 Granada, Nicaragua Solo bajo la mas grande trepidación es que un filosofo da un discurso a poetas. Todos sabemos – nosotros novelistas, historiadores – que, sí existe una aristocracia entre los escritores, es dominada por los príncipes […]
Click headline to read PEN International press release:
January Letter from John Ralston Saul, International President, to the PEN Membership. January 26, 2014 Dear PEN Members, Dear Friends, Last week in Paris I went to the site of the Charlie Hebdo murders with Emmanuel Pierrat of French PEN, Jarkko Tontti, Carles Torner and Sarah Clarke from our Secretariat. We placed flowers and a […]
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Dear PEN Members, Dear friends, A few weeks ago, two hundred and fifty writers from almost 80 PEN Centres came together in Bishkek. Nothing like this has been tried before. And it probably would not have been possible elsewhere in the region. This 80th Congress was an illustration of why PEN exists. We came to […]
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7:00 pm. First Nations House of Learning. 1985 W. Mall. UBC Point Grey (closest parking: Fraser River Parkade). JRS speech moderated by Georgia Straight Editor, Charlie Smith. Guests include Doug White, Leah George Wilson & Shain Jackson. The unstoppable comeback of the Aboriginal peoples.
7:30 pm. 300 Memorial Blvd. Winnipeg Art Gallery. JRS speech & conversation with Leah Gazan, Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair with music by Rebecca Chartrand, hosted by Michael Champagne. The unstoppable comeback of the Aboriginal peoples.
7:00 pm at The Roxy Theatre 320 20th St W. JRS Speech & conversation with Winona Wheeler and John Ralston Saul will be joined by special guests, hip hop artist Eekwol and Dr. Winona Wheeler, President Elect of NAISA & Head of the Department of Native Studies. Hosted by Dani Mario of CBC News Saskatchewan. […]
Президент Алмазбек Атамбаев встретился с участниками 80-го Конгресса PEN International
JRS to lead the 80th PEN International Congress in Bishkek, Kyrgystan.
JRS will be leading a PEN International delegation to Kazakhstan w/ International Secretary Hori Takeaki & Executive Director Carles Torner to meet with Kazakh PEN & Public Officials in Astana & Almaty.
PEN International Condemns Killings of Journalists and Attacks on Media during Israeli Offensive in Gaza.
July letter from John Ralston Saul International President, to the PEN membership.
An interview with Finnish journalist, Antti Majander: “Russian and Ukrainian PEN centres are opposed to align with hate speech.”
JRS in Tallinn to meet with members and President of Estonian PEN, Kätlin Kaldmaa and Estonian Minister of Culture, Urve Tiidus.
Russian and Ukrainian PEN affirm their unity against the waves of propaganda destroying the language of public discussion.
JRS in Helsking with Jarkko Tonti, International Treasurer of PEN International and Sirpa Kähkönen, President of Finnish PEN. Tomorrow they will meet with Erik Lundberg, Head of the Unit for Human Rights Policy, Pekka Haavisto, Minister for International Development of the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Finnish PEN members.
PEN brings together leading Ukrainian and Russian writers to promote a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine
A report from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on our recent PEN International delegation.
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Press Freedom Day event in Ottawa, Canada. The speech, titled ‘Secrecy, Surveillance and Free Expression’ is available to view online here.
PEN International President delivers speech on World Press Freedom Day. Ottawa, Canada
JRS to attend Buenos Aires Book Fair in Argentina from May 3rd – May 9th. Visit to include roundtable “Free The Word!” with Argentine authors including Martín Kohan, Luisa Valenzuela, Pola Oloixarac and Carlos Gamerro. They will discuss the history of PEN International in Latin America and freedom of expression.
JRS delivers the keynote address to the World Press Freedom Day Luncheon in Ottawa. Sauls speech is titled “Secrecy, Surveillance and Free Expression.”
April 22, 2014 Dear PEN Members, Dear friends, I hope you won’t mind a more personal monthly letter. I am just back from Burma, now Myanmar, for the first time in a quarter century. From 1980 through much of the ‘80’s I was often there, in different guises, writing on the terrible situation. The military […]
MARCH 20, 2014
JRS to visit publishers and writers in Myanmar at Yangon PEN Centre.
JRS to visit publishers and writers in Myanmar at Yangon PEN Centre.
MARCH 10, 2014 Dear PEN members, Dear friends, As many of you know, Haroon Siddiqui (former International Board member) and I were in India for three weeks in January, for the launch of the new Delhi PEN Centre and to visit the older All-India PEN Centre in Mumbai. I will come back to the situation […]
PEN Session Sunday Jan 19th 17:00 – 18:00. JRS in conversation w/ Peter Godwin, Jerry Pinto & Madhu Trehan: “Freedom, Opinion and Expression.”
JRS Introduces Ray Monk, biographer of Wittgenstein at Jaipur Festival. Sat Jan 18th, 18:00
JANUARY 13, 2014 Dear PEN members, Dear friends, First, best wishes to all of you for the New Year. Some of you have already celebrated your official date; others are about to do so. Last year saw a remarkable growth in PEN’s work. Our renewed and enlarged education work, with the support of SIDA, has us building […]
DECEMBER 5, 2013 Two weeks ago I was standing in the Anti-Apartheid museum in Johannesburg listening to Nelson Mandela’s voice as he made his statement from the Dock during the Rivonia Trial. It was April 29th, 1964. An eerie sound, poorly recorded, and yet his voice somehow dominated the technology. Why had they recorded him? […]
NOVEMBER 22, 2013 STATEMENT ON THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT’S “DESIGNATED SECRETS BILL” BY JOHN RALSTON SAUL INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT PEN INTERNATIONAL Governments need very few secrets and citizens have the right to a great deal of information. Citizens need this information in order to fulfill their role. And they have the right to this information. Instead we […]
NOVEMBER 15, 2013 Dear PEN members, Dear friends, I am writing this on November 15th, the Day of the Imprisoned Writer. A year ago some twenty of us from around the world were in Istanbul and Ankara with PEN Turkey, meeting with political leaders and drawing attention to the endangered state of free expression, with so […]
October 15 2013 Dear PEN members, Dear friends, By now all Centres will have the International Secretary’s summary of the 79th Congress in Reykjavik and will know what an important gathering it was. Let me highlight a few things. There is now a Myanmar PEN Centre, after more than half a century of dictatorship http://www.pen-international.org/09/2013/introducing-pen-myanmar-nay-phone-latt/. The […]
OCTOBER 10, 2013 PEN Zentrum Deautschland hosts Ana Lilia Perez, Jeanette Erazo Heufelder Urs Jaeggi Tobias Voss and Sascha Feuchert at Frankfurt Book Fair 2013 Frankfurt, Germany.
OCTOBER 9, 2013 JRS Jo Lusby and Ronald Blunden speak at event on Burma. Weltempfang Salon Exhibition Site. Frankfurt Book Fair 2013 in Germany.
JRS to arrive in Germany for the Frankfurt Book Fair 2013. Will Chair the PEN International Publishers Circle breakfast.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 3pm-3.45pm PEN International Free the Word! Freedom of Speech: Digital Frontiers Edward Snowden’s revelations about international mass surveillance programs have prompted perhaps the definitive debate of our age: How free are we online? How do writers approach such issues? Douglas Coupland, PEN International President John Ralston Saul and Ali Ravi (Tactical Technology Collective) will discuss the future […]
SEPTEMBER 11, 2013 John Ralston Saul introduces and chairs the Free the Word! event at the Reykjavik International Literary Festival.Joint program of the Reykjavik International Literary Festival and PEN International. Authors read in their mother tongue.Program:• Address: John Ralston Saul President of PEN International• Icelandic poet Þorsteinn frá Hamri• Winner of the New Voices Award announced• […]
Opening Speech At The 79th PEN International Congress In Reykjavik
SEPTEMBER 11, 2013 Someone is listening to us. Of course, tonight, in this theatre, a thousand of you are listening. And that is a good thing for literature and for free expression. But out there, beyond this room literally millions of people are being employed around the world to make nonsense of our concepts of […]
SEPTEMBER 9, 2013 THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION The Assembly of Delegates of PEN International, meeting at its 79th World Congress in Reykjavik, Iceland, 9th to 12th September 2013. During 2013, the authorities in the Russian Federation continued their attempts to stifle free expression by adding two further pieces of draconian legislation to the books. In June 2013, the so-called […]
SEPTEMBER 9, 2013 PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA The Assembly of Delegates of PEN International, meeting at its 79th World Congress in Reykjavik, Iceland, 9 September to 12 September 2013 Welcomes the release on bail of Jiao Guobiao, and withdrawal of the charges against Chen Pingfu by the prosecutors since the last PEN International Congress in September […]
SEPTEMBER 9, 2013 The Assembly of Delegates of PEN International, meeting at its 79th World Congress in Reykjavik, Iceland, 9th to 12th September 2013 In recent years, there has been a series of deeply troubling revelations concerning secret United States governmental programmes that violate international human rights norms. These revelations have not come from the […]
John Ralston Saul Chairs the PEN International Congress in Reykjavik
SEPTEMBER 3, 2013 Dear PEN members, Dear friends, In a few days, many of us will meet in Reykjavik for the 79th PEN International Congress. Many things will happen there. When it comes to rights, we are faced today by a curiously old fashioned situation – that is, there are serious freedom of expression issues in all of […]
JULY 3, 2013 Dear PEN members, Dear friends,This letter comes a few days after the Turkish government forced the peaceful protesters off Taksim Square in Istanbul. I have been speaking regularly with Turkish PEN President, Tarik Günersel, who said that some people – including writers – have been injured by the police. He also feels […]
John Ralston Saul Visits The Board And Membership Of The Colombian PEN Centre In Bogota
MAY 12, 2013 Dear PEN members, Dear friends,First a regret. Ethiopian PEN has just held its annual Congress. Last year I was able to be there for the first ever gathering which took place in uncertain circumstances. I am very sorry not to have been able to return this year. The situation in the country […]
APRIL 8, 2013 Dear PEN members, Dear friends, This letter covers two months – February and March. I have been constantly on the road, which is never good for writing. The main news I have comes out of a trip back to Mexico and on to Nicaragua. But first some good news.If you go to our […]
John Ralston Saul Visits The Board Of The Nicaraguan PEN Centre In Managua
John Ralston Saul Leads A PEN International Follow-Up Delegation To Mexico City
John Ralston Saul Delivers A Key-Note Speech At The Meeting Of The IAPA In Puebla, Mexico
John Ralston Saul Attends The Meeting Of The Inter-American Press Association In Puebla, Mexico
FEBRUARY 15, 2013 Dear PEN members, Dear friends,As you know, PEN now has a partnership with the Hay Festival network. This means our Free the Word! program fits into already existing festivals. And so through literature we are able to get across our messages about free speech, debate, translation, endangered languages, digital standards and so […]
DECEMBER 31, 2012 Dear PEN members, Dear friends,As many of you know, the entire Board of Directors of PEN Turkey is now under investigation for having insulted the Turkish Republic, as laid out in Article 301. Of course, there are already some 70 writers in prison in Turkey and many others caught up in the […]
NOVEMBER 30, 2012 Dear PEN members, Dear friends,Some 20 of us are just back from Turkey. It was a long and complex mission in difficult circumstances – difficult because the freedom of expression situation in Turkey has been in decline for almost two years. But I do feel that we have helped to create a […]
John R. Saul And The PEN Delegation To Turkey Meet WithTurkish EU Minister Egemen Bağış
John R. Saul And The PEN Delegation To Turkey Meet With President Turkish President Abdullah Gül
OCTOBER 31, 2012 Dear PEN members, Dear friends,October is Frankfurt Book Fair. PEN International’s relationship with the Fair continues to grow. The opening session of the Weltempfang was given to our Publishers Circle, with Ronald Blunden, Anders Heger, Ola Wallin and myself in conversation with publishers emerging in difficult situations. This included Babar Maqbool from […]
John Ralston Saul Chairs The PEN Publishers Circle Event At The Frankfurt Book Fair
SEPTEMBER 30, 2012 Dear PEN members, Dear friends, Those of you who were in Gyeongju for the Congress are now home, those who were not able to come have had a good description of it from our Executive Director, Laura McVeigh, or from your Delegates. Wole Soyinka, in one of the debates, said “literature is […]
SEPTEMBER 14, 2012 John Ralston Saul, a life-long champion of freedom of expression has been re-elected as PEN International’s President for a second term by the Assembly of Delegates at the 78th Annual Congress. He was first elected President of PEN International in October 2009. The internationally-renowned Canadian author and public intellectual is included in […]
SEPTEMBER 10, 2012 This is a remarkable city. I have been coming to Gyeongju for fifteen years. It is a city not only of history but of ideas; a city built on the idea of a humanist civilization, both Buddhist and Confucian. I think often, wherever I am in the world, of The Divine Bell […]
Opening Speech Of The 78th Annual PEN Congress In Gyeongju, South Korea SEPTEMBER 10, 2012
AUGUST 31, 2012 Dear PEN Members, Dear friends,This will be a short letter. I wanted to get it off to you before many of us meet in Gyeongju for the 78th PEN International Congress. I am writing to you from Australia where I have been largely for non-PEN matters. However, as always, I ensure there are […]
JULY 31, 2012 Dear PEN Members, Dear friends,First, the Board has now finished working on the PEN International Declaration on Free Expression and Digital Technologies and passed it unanimously. It is in translation and will be on its way to you very soon. Please have a close look and show it to any experts you […]
JUNE 29, 2012 Dear PEN Members, Dear friends,In some ways this was a month focused on linguistic rights. Not that the rest of our world stopped turning. In Mexico the good and the bad continued to speed in a complex spiral. President Calderon has finally signed the Law of Protection for Human Rights Defenders and […]
John Ralston Saul delivers a speech on the Girona Manifesto for a meeting with the governor of Catalonia
MAY 28, 2012 Dear PEN Members, Dear friends, May and June are the months when our standing Committees tend to get together. This matters because we are a grassroots movement spread all over the world. We need to see each other in order to continually set and reset our direction. The new Balkans Network held its inaugural […]
MAY 17, 2012 Truly great writers come in different forms. With the death of Carlos Fuentes, Mexico loses – we all lose – a writer of the grandest form, as strong in fiction as in non-fiction. He was an intellectual who could serve the state, but until the last moments of his life, was ready […]
John Ralston Saul attends the PEN Peace Committee meeting in Bled, Slovenia
APRIL 30, 2012 Dear PEN Members, Dear friends,Hori Takeaki, Eric Lax and I have just spent several days in London, discussing PEN strategy, spending time with Laura McVeigh and the staff of our international office and talking to publishers at the London Book Fair.The three of us try to get together several times a year. […]
John Ralston Saul Hosts The Annual PEN Patron Event At His Home In Toronto
MARCH 21, 2012 Dear PEN members, Dear Friends,This letter arrives a bit late as I have just come from spending time with our PEN Centres in Ethiopia and Djibouti. Before telling you about that, a few words on thedevelopments in Mexico. You may have seen from a recent PEN statement that there has been an […]
MARCH 14, 2012 PEN International Statement Mexican Senate Backs Federalization of Crimes against Freedom of Expression PEN International warmly welcomes the Mexican Senate’s approval, on 13 March 2012, of a constitutional amendment, which, if passed by Mexico’s states, will federalize crimes against journalists. John Ralston Saul, International President of PEN International said: “This amendment was […]
John Ralston Saul visits the PEN Centre in Djibouti
John Ralston Saul visits Ethiopian PEN and takes part in the 1st Annual Gral Meeting of PEN Ethiopia
FEBRUARY 18, 2012 Dear PEN Members, Dear friends,By now many of you will have read about our PEN International mission to Mexico. There is a great deal on the website. Please have a look.This mission was important for two reasons. First, the situation in Mexico is getting worse, with over eighty writers killed already. Newspapers […]
John Ralston Saul visits Korean PEN in Seoul
Op-Ed By John Ralston Saul At The Globe And Mail: Mexico – Where Words Are Rags To Cover Corpses
The Globe And Mail Op-Ed – Mexico: Where Words Are “Rags To Cover Corpses”
John Ralston Saul Delivers A Speech At The PEN Protesta Public Event In Mexico City
JANUARY 29, 2012 PEN Mexico, Pen International and other PEN centres as well as prominent writers and journalists from around the world will meet to protest the killing and disappearance of journalists in Mexico. The public event will take place on January 29, 2012 at noon in Mexico City. Place: Casa Lamm Time: 12:00 PM […]
JANUARY 29, 2012 Follow the link below for a full transcript of John Ralston Saul’s opening speech at the PEN Protesta! public event in Mexico City http://www.pen-international.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ENG_Mexico-City-Speech-Jan-29.pdf
JANUARY 18, 2012 Dear friends, Dear PEN members,A few days from now a large delegation – ten of us – will go to Mexico City. This will be a strong expression of solidarity for Mexican writers and journalists. It will also be unprecedented, with the entire Executive going – Hori Takeaki, Eric Lax and myself […]
DECEMBER 13, 2011 Dear PEN Members, Dear Friends, Over the last month I have been able to spend time with some twenty of our Centres in Africa and in Europe – a PEN African Network meeting in Dakar, four days in Sierra Leone with our PEN Centre there, a Forum of Freedom of Expression and […]
John Ralston Saul Delivers A Speech At The Nordic Forum On Freedom Of Expression In Stockholm Sweden
NOVEMBER 30, 2011 ERICSSON’S RESPONSIBILITY IN SYRIA November 1st, 2011 Over the last few weeks, the revelation that the telecom company Ericsson has been delivering advanced positioning equipment to the Syrian government has been the focus of a heated debate in Sweden. There can be no doubt whatsoever that this equipment is being used to position, eavesdrop […]
NOVEMBER 22, 2011 President Wade Ambassadors Ministers Mr. Kebé, President of PEN Senegal Mr. Beye, Secretary General of PEN Senegal Mr. Harruna Attah, Secretary General of PAN Prof. Okai, Secretary General of the Pan African Writers Association Members of PEN everywhere in Africa Ladies Gentlemen President Wade, it’s a great honour to have you with us today. As you […]
Opening Speech At The PAN Meeting In Dakar, Senegal
John Ralston Saul Visits Sierra Leones PEN Centre In Freetown
NOVEMBER 10, 2011 Dear PEN Members, Dear Friends, Sixteen years ago today, our colleague Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged by Nigerian officials for writing and speaking, and doing so persistently. I was in southern Tunisia with a group of writers and film makers when I heard the awful news. Many of us remember that day very […]
JRS Receives Honourary Doctorate from Nipissing University and Delivers Convocation Address
Opening Speech Of The Weltempfang Centre At The Frankfurt Book Fair
OCTOBER 12, 2011 Dear friends, Dear PEN members,Those of you who were in Belgrade have had some time to report to your members. And all of you have received a fast, preliminary report from our Executive Director, Laura McVeigh – a very good new initiative. The cleared up resolutions have also gone out to you […]
OCTOBER 5, 2011 South African PEN protests at SA Government treatment of Dalai Lama visa application South African PEN is deeply concerned at the shameful manner in which the South African Government has dealt with an application for a visa to attend the private birthday party of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu by the renowned Tibetan […]
SEPTEMBER 15, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Today at PEN International’s 77th annual Congress the PEN General Assembly approved the Girona Manifesto on Linguistic Rights which calls for the protection and promotion of linguistic diversity. This Manifesto developed by PEN’s Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee is a significant step toward protecting and promoting all world languages, including those […]
SEPTEMBER 14, 2011 PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Hundreds of writers, editors, translators and publishers from across the globe celebrate the achievement of 2010 Nobel Prizes by Mario Vargas Llosa and Liu Xiaobo and call for the release of Xiaobo and his wife. At PEN International’s 77th annual Congress in Belgrade today, delegates from over 80 […]
SEPTEMBER 13, 2011 Thank you Serbian PEN! Thank you Vida and thank you to all of your members. You have organized a wonderful Congress. People who attend have no idea how much work is involved and how many hours are taken up that could have been used for writing. So, a very personal thank you […]
Opening Ceremony Speech of 77th Annual PEN Congress in Belgrade, Serbia SEPTEMBER 13, 2011
September 9, 2010—In response to the threatened burning of copies of the Koran in the United States on September 11, 2010, the president of International PEN, John Ralston Saul, has issued the following statement: There is only one religion of book burning. Whatever the book—a text from any religion, a novel, a philosophical treatise, a […]
SEPTEMBER 7, 2011 Dear friends,I write this monthly letter from Tunis, where PEN Tunisia is rebuilding itself after the fall of the dictatorship. Naziha Rjiba, President of the Centre and Sihem Bensedrine, Secretary General, took terrible risks during Ben Ali’s time and suffered a great deal. The situation remains complex and fragile, but they are […]
JULY 28, 2011 Following the terrible events in Norway, the President of Norwegian PEN, Anders Heger, has written the following letter describing the events to his friend Larry Siems at American PEN. Click here the following to read the letter
JULY 24, 2011 GIRONA MANIFESTO ON LINGUISTIC RIGHTS PEN International brings together the writers of the world. Fifteen years ago, the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights was first made public in Barcelona by PEN International’s Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee. Today, that same Committee, gathered together in Girona, declares a Manifesto of the Universal Declaration’s […]
JULY 26, 2011 Our thoughts are with Norwegian PEN, its members, our friends and supporters at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cities of Refuge Network, and Norwegian publishers as well as all the people of Norway. Norway’s tolerant and open-minded approach to the world and its deep commitment to human […]
JULY 20, 2011 Dear Friends, Dear Members of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre, Congratulations on your 10th Anniversary. I am very sorry not to have been able to join you. However, it is good to know that Hori Takeaki, our International Secretary, is there representing all of us; as well as Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, International Vice-President; […]
JULY 15, 2011 Dear friends, Some two weeks ago all PEN Centres received a message from the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee telling you about The Girona Manifesto. I am following up in order to let you know how important I personally believe this initiative to be. Exactly 15 years ago the same Committee led […]
DECEMBER 12, 2011 One year ago, I sat in the great city hall of Oslo with hundreds of writers and other supporters of Liu Xiaobo from around the world. In spite of his absence, it was not a ceremony of sadness, or even of anger. There was a kind of fervour tied to the 2010 […]
JUNE 3, 2011 Mexico’s human-rights rhetoric is second to none. It has been like this for a decade. The government has signed or ratified more than 20 human-rights treaties and considered more than 1,000 recommendations from various human-rights organizations. These fine words and political gestures contradict the failure of successive administrations to tackle the reality […]
Op-Ed By John Ralston Saul At The Globe And Mail: The Lethal War On Mexicos Journalists
MAY 10, 2011 John Ralston Saul moderates a panel on “Evolution of Censorship” Panelists: Mona Eltahawy, Gregory Shvedov, Jacob Mchangama, and Fernão Lara Mesquita. Watch the panel discussion here John Ralston Saul delivers a speech on “Censorship for Sale”. Watch the speech here.
MAY 7, 2011 On the occasion of the annual meeting of the PEN international Writers for Peace Committee, in the presence of the PEN International President, John Ralston Saul , and the International Secretary, Hori Takeaki, the following statement was approved: PEN International stands by Mexico’s National March for Justice and Peace with Dignity, which […]
MAY 2, 2011 The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, and the President of PEN International, John Ralston Saul, today made the following joint statement to mark World Press Freedom Day on 3 May. They added that they are making this joint statement to express their concern over the growing threats to […]
APRIL 28, 2011 PEN International strongly supports the repeal of Ireland’s Defamation Act of 2009 and an amendment to the Irish Constitution’s requirement that blasphemy be prohibited under Irish law. Click here to see full press release
AUGUST 15, 2011 Dear Friends,A number of PEN Centres have asked me to write a monthly letter to our members. This is one small part of our eternal challenge – how are 20,000 writers in more than 100 countries to keep in touch with each other? We all hope that this will be helped by […]
APRIL 5, 2011 On the eve of Free the Word! 2011 (6-10 April) and London International Book Fair (11-13 April) three of the world’s leading publishers, Hachette Livre, Penguin and Random House, have joined with PEN International to launch a new initiative – the PEN International Publishers’ Circle. The Publishers’ Circle will provide support for […]
MARCH 31, 2011 London, UK, 31 March 2011—PEN International praises the U.N. Human Rights Council for its recent unanimous vote on the right of all individuals to practice religion, which ended a thirteen-year campaign by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to make blasphemy a crime. Click link to read full statement in English […]
MARCH 12, 2011 Click below to see interview published in Mumbai Mirror on the topic of John Ralston Saul’s letter to Vice Chancellor Welukar. www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx
MARCH 8, 2011 Please find attached a letter written by John Ralston Saul to Rejan Welukar, the Vice-Chancellor of Mumbai University. The letter is in respect to the abrupt removal, in September 2010, of Rohinton Mistry’s novel Such a Long Journey from Mumbai University’s reading list. The context of this decision is an important challenge […]
FEBRUARY 17, 2011 Egypt PEN reiterates its support for the Egyptian Youths’ Revolution and their calls for free expression along with political and economic reform. The first stage of this revolution is over. Before we move on this is the time to send our condolences to all those families whose children were sacrificed while struggling […]
FEBRUARY 7, 2011 Iqbal Baraka, President of Egyptian PEN, has written for the Cairo based Al Masry el Yom newspaper. You can find the full article, translated into English, on PEN International’s website here
FEBRUARY 7, 2011 John Ralston Saul recently sat down with The Mark to talk about freedom of expression, its place in society, and the situation in Egypt. View the video here.
JANUARY 31, 2011 31 January, 2011- In the wake of the welcome and peaceful move towards democracy in Tunisia, PEN International notes with great concern the violent response to antigovernment protests elsewhere in the region, notably Egypt, but also in Yemen and Syria. To access full statement click this link.
January 28, 2011 American PEN Centre’s “Working Day” celebrates the 25th Anniversary of PEN’s legendary 48th Congress in 1986 by revisiting the theme: “The Writer’s Imagination and the Imagination of the State: Writers Respond to What’s Gone Wrong and How to Fix Things.” Keynote addresses by the distinguished writers and thinkers include John Ralston Saul, […]
DECEMBER 10, 2010 International President of International PEN, John Ralston Saul, has been invited to attend the Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony for Liu Xiaobo, former president of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre and this year’s winner of the prize.
DECEMBER 10, 2010 John Ralston to participate as President of PEN International in seminar organized by PEN International and Amnesty International in the morning of the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony for Liu Xiaobo. Other speakers include Martin-Liao Tienchi, President of Indipendent Chinese PEN Centre and Salil Shetty, International Secretary General of Amnesty International. This seminar […]
DECEMBER 10, 2010 On December 10, 2010, PEN International releases its statement on Wikleaks. To read full statement click here.
DECEMBER 9, 2010 OSLO, 9 December 2010 – Today in Oslo, PEN International has reiterated its call, echoed by writers, journalists and essayists, as well as political and civic leaders around the world, for the immediate and unconditional release of Liu Xiaobo, recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Click here to access press release.
DECEMBER 6, 2010 John Ralston Sauls’ article on Liu Xiaobo, winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, imprisoned dissident writer and former President of the Chinese Indipendent PEN Centre, is published world-wide. Click links below to find article in various languages. Access English article published in the Globe and Mail. French edition published in Le […]
NOVEMBER 15, 2010 The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International commemorates its fiftieth year in 2010, on the International Day of the Imprisoned Writer, and pays tribute to 41 writers around the world who have been killed in the last year. Please find press release here
OCTOBER 8, 2010 PEN International calls on the People’s Republic of China to release the writer and academic Liu Xiaobo, winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Liu, currently serving an 11-year sentence in China, is a former president of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre. See PEN International’s press statement here
OCTOBER 7, 2010 Mario Vargas Llosa was named as this year’s Nobel literature laureate at a ceremony today in Sweden. Vargas Llosa has been an active member of PEN for many years and served as the organisation’s International President from 1976 – 79. See PEN International’s press statement here
SEPTEMBER 31, 2010 The 76th Annual Congress of International PEN in Tokyo, Japan has issued resolutions on a number of countries. Please find links to four of them below. (all files are in PDF form) 76th Annual Congress of PEN International Resolution: China 76th Annual Congress of PEN International Resolution: Iran 76th Annual Congress of […]
SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 WORLD’S LEADING ADVOCATE FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION CONDEMNS IRAN, TAKES FORMAL ACTION AT CHINESE EMBASSY IN TOKYO, ELECTS FIRST ASIAN INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY More than 250 writers from several dozen countries, gathered in Tokyo for the 76th annual Congress of PEN International, expressed profound outrage at the sentencing yesterday of 35-year-old Iranian-Canadian blogger […]
SEPTEMBER 26, 2010 PEN International meets in Tokyo to urge increased campaigning on behalf of silenced and imprisoned colleagues. Hundreds of writers from across the globe will gather from 25th September to 1st October at PEN’s 76th International Congress. John Ralston Saul delivers his Opening Ceremony Speech on September 26th at the Keio Plaza Hotel, […]
SEPTEMBER 26, 2010 PEN International meets in Tokyo to urge increased campaigning on behalf of silenced and imprisoned colleagues. Hundreds of writers from across the globe will gather from 25th September to 1st October at PEN’s 76th International Congress. John Ralston Saul delivers his Opening Ceremony Speech on September 26th at the Keio Plaza Hotel, […]
Opening Ceremony Speech Of The 76th Annual PEN In Tokyo, Japan.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2010 From CBC Radio’s website: “One side wants a law against defamation of religions. The other warns that any such legislation would do far more harm than good. And both sides are clearly ignoring that old adage: Never discuss religion or politics. In fact, both sides are discussing both. Today in Geneva, freedom-of-expression […]
SEPTEMBER 16, 2010 “At a panel held in conjunction with the Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, writers and free-expression advocates from around the world today warned of the potential harm of imposing legal restrictions on expression considered offensive or defamatory to religions, arguing that such restrictions not only would do little to foster mutual […]
SEPTEMBER 15, 2010 “Faith and Free Speech: Defamation of Religions and Freedom of Expression” An International Seminar and UN Side Event September 16, 2010 International PEN and its national centres are extremely concerned about ongoing processes in the United Nations aiming at combating defamation of religions. We are also concerned about the UN Ad Hoc […]
Statement On Threatened Burning Of Copies Of The Koran
Article In The Globe And Mail, In Memory Of George Anglades
Speech to Korean PEN (Seoul, South Korea)
PEN Speech at the Committee of Translations and Linguistics Rights conference, hosted by Catalan PEN (Barcelona)
Annual Conference of the Committee of Translations and Linguistics Rights (Barcelona, Spain)
Speech: John Ralston Saul On The Girona Manifesto At A Meeting With The Government Of Catalunya
PEN Meeting with José Luís Baltar Pumar, President of Ourense
PEN Meeting with José Luís Baltar Pumar, President of Ourense (Ourense, Galicia)
JANUARY 14, 2010 I have just learnt that Georges Anglade and his wife Mireille Neptune have been killed in the earth quake in Haiti. Georges was the founding President of PEN Haïti and a member of the Board of Quebec-PEN, a wonderful writer, a courageous man who had stood up to the enemies of free […]