In Focus

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      Every year, PEN International hosts a number of events around the world promoting freedom of expression and celebrating literature in a variety of ways. PEN Centres stage events such as literary festivals large and small, storytelling sessions with families and children, book clubs and everything in between. One important occasion to mark is the annual Day of the Imprisoned Writer, 15 November, which gives the entire PEN community a chance to celebrate our work across the world as well as drawing attention to the ongoing persecution faced by many writers today.

    • 16 May 2012 Bled
      Writers for Peace Committee Bled Conference
    • 12 Jun 2012 Barcelona
      Girona Manifesto Presentation
    • 17 Jun 2012 АР Крым,
      THE 4TH URAL – ALTAY PEN CENTRES SOLIDARITY NETWORK CONFERENCE

    News: Girona Manifesto translation appeal

    Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona. Photo by Serge Melki

    The Girona Manifesto on Linguistic Rights will be presented at an event at the Palau de la Generalitat, Barcelona, on 5 March 2012 at a high-profile event co-ordinated by Catalan PEN. For the event, the Catalan PEN Centre is putting together a collection of translations of the Manifesto. In the spirit of the Girona Manifesto, we are appealing to PEN Centres and any other interested person to translate this invaluable document into as many languages as possible. Amongst the PEN International community there are over 40 languages spoken, written and read, and we hope to be able to make the Girona Manifesto available to all of them – and more.

    We already have translations of the document in Albanian, Basque, Catalan, Danish, English, French, German, Italian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Occitan, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish, thanks to the work of PEN members around the world.

    We encourage PEN Centres and others to translate the Girona Manifesto into any language they can, to help make this a truly global and powerful document. Please send any translations to Ruth at penoffice@pen-international.org by 15 February.

    To read more about the Girona Manifesto and to read some of the translations see the In Focus section on the left.

    PEN International celebrates literature and promotes freedom of expression. Founded in 1921, our global community of writers now spans more than 100 countries. Our campaigns, events, publications and programmes aim to connect writers and readers wherever they are in the world.