HIGHLIGHTS FROM BLED 2013

Apart from the traditional 45^th International Writers Meeting, this year the International Board choose to have his face-to-face Meeting in Bled. 

I can’t recall if in 1965 – when Bled hosted the International Congress – there was such a meeting here, but in any case a lot of time did pass by and this could be considered an important acknowledgment of the importance PEN International gives to the Bled Meeting.

The Board members and the Chairpersons of the 5 Committees met on Tuesday 7^th for dinner and had a meeting on Wednesday 8^th, with a short prolongation on Thursday, discussing a full agenda.

I apologize if this year I will be less punctual in this short report of mine, but being a Board member means that one has many things to think about at the same time... :0)

The International Writers Meeting – there were about 36 PEN Centres or Countries represented  - started on the evening of Wednesday with a presentation of the literature of the Zasavje region of Slovenia, the President of Slovene PEN Marjan Strojan is native to. He was accompanied by two other authors, Roman Rozina and Uroš Zupan. 

At night we were received at the Brdo Castle by the Minister of Culture of Slovenia, dr. Uroš Grilc.

On Thursday the Meeting opened with a Round Table about “Literary creation, from the periphery to the centre”, moderated by Teresa Salema.

This was followed by a Panel Discussion about “The role of PEN today and in the future”, presented by Tone Peršak of Slovene PEN and moderated by the International President John Ralston Saul and the International Secretary Takeaki Hori.

Both events were followed with interest and there were many interventions.

The day closed with a series of literary readings in different places near Bled.

On Friday there was a second Round Table, moderated by Edvard Kovač, Chairman of the Writers for Peace Committee, about “The writer as a traveller creating peace facing the challenges of the new media”. 

In the afternoon this Round Table was followed by a Workshop – moderated by two members of the staff of the PEN International Office, Sarah Clarke and Paul Finegan – about “Digital Freedom, Peace and Conficts and the PEN’s Declaration on Digital Freedom “ adopted in Gyeongju in 2012.  

The Centres are kindly invited to translate this Declaration into their own language (or languages) and to send it to the International Office in London.

Also these two events aroused the interest of participants and consequently there were many hands raised.

Apart from the specific matters dealt of in these discussion, one of the most debated issues among Delegates, Board and the Icelandic Delegate Sigurdur Pálsson was the logistics of the Reykjavik Congress.

In the evening a literary event took place in Radovljica, dedicated to the Slovene version of a novel of Margriet de Moor.

On Saturday morning there were two sessions: the General Assembly of the Writers for Peace Committee, chaired by Edvard Kovač and co-chaired by Teresa Salema, and a Meeting of the Women Writers Committee about “Who is Who? or Networking of Female Writers”, chaired by Ekbal Baraka and moderated by Barbara Simoniti.

Personally I attended the WfPC session, which was quite crowded and animated, having to deal with activity reports, updating about delicate situations, the final version of the Manifesto of the Writers for Peace Committee drafted in Gyeongju, the organization of the Lisbona conference to be held at the end of June and other business. A project to create a new Mediterranean Network was discussed and will be taken into consideration again during the Lisbona meeting.

This year Edi Kovač will leave the Chairmanship of the WfPC and in Reykjavik the Committee will have a General Assembly electing the new Chairperson, with the same procedure as the other PEN Committees. Tone Peršak of Slovene PEN is candidate to take over from Edi Kovač.

My wife Lina Morselli, Treasurer of Trieste PEN, attended the WWC meeting and was very interested by it, the Committee having started to function regularly and having concrete projects for the immediate future.

The “historical” picture I attach to this post shows the International President and Secretary sitting on the floor with the Chairpersons of the PEN Committees, marking the close cooperation that has to be maintained and fostered among and between the Committees and the Board.

I would like to specially thank the Mayor of Bled Mr. Janez Fajfar for the courtesy and pleasantness he is always using towards all the Delegates in his town.

After a theatre play in Kranj of John Patrick Shanley we all convened to a farewell dinner.

Next year we will meet again in Bled.

Dichiarazione del PEN sulla Libertà Digitale

Il PEN International promuove la letteratura e la libertà di espressione ed è retto dalla Carta del PEN e dai principi in essa contenuti – la trasmissione senza ostacolo alcuno del pensiero all’interno di ogni nazione e tra tutte le nazioni.

Il PEN riconosce la promessa che i media digitali costituiscono come mezzo di realizzazione del diritto fondamentale della libera espressione. Allo stesso tempo, poeti, commediografi, saggisti, romanzieri, scrittori, bloggers e giornalisti soffrono violazioni del loro diritto di libertà di espressione nell’ uso dei media digitali. Cittadini di vari paesi hanno dovuto affrontare gravi restrizioni nell’accesso ai media digitali e nel loro utilizzo, mentre i governi hanno sfruttato le tecnologie digitali per sopprimere la libertà di espressione e per sorvegliare le persone. Il settore privato ed in particolare le imprese del settore tecnologico hanno a volte facilitato la censura e la sorveglianza dei governi. Pertanto il PEN dichiara quanto segue:

1. Tutte le persone hanno il diritto di esprimersi liberamente attraverso i media digitali senza temere di subire rappresaglie o persecuzioni.

a. Tutti gli utenti dei media digitali godono della protezione della loro piena libertà di espressione concessa dalle leggi e dalle norme internazionali.

b. I governi non devono perseguire o sottoporre a rappresaglie le persone che trasmettono informazioni, opinioni o idee tramite i media digitali.

c. I governi devono proteggere attivamente la libertà di espressione tramite i media digitali, introducendo e applicando leggi e norme funzionanti.

2. Tutte le persone hanno il diritto di cercare e ricevere informazioni tramite i media digitali.

a. I governi non devono censurare, limitare o controllare i contenuti dei media digitali, inclusi i contenuti derivanti da fonti nazionali ed internazionali.

b. In circostanze eccezionali, ogni limitazione ai contenuti dei media digitali deve essere conforme alle leggi e norme internazionali che regolano i limiti della libertà di espressione, come l’incitamento alla violenza.

c. I governi non devono bloccare l’accesso ai media digitali né restringerne l’uso, anche durante periodi di agitazioni o crisi. Il controllo dell’accesso ai media digitali, specialmente se su larga scala, viola di per sé il diritto alla libertà di espressione.

d. I governi devono favorire e promuovere il pieno accesso di tutte le persone ai media digitali.

3. Tutte le persone hanno il diritto di essere libere da ogni sorveglianza governativa sui media digitali.

a. La sorveglianza in sé, conscio o no che ne sia chi ne è specifico obiettivo, impedisce ogni spontaneità di discorso creando le condizioni di una persecuzione e la paura di rappresaglie. Se nota, la sorveglianza favorisce un clima di autocensura che lede ulteriormente la libera espressione.

b. Come regola generale, i governi non devono cercare di accedere alle comunicazioni digitali tra due o più persone private, né devono monitorare l’uso individuale dei media digitali, né seguire i movimenti delle persone tramite i media digitali, né alterare il loro modo di esprimersi, né in generale sorvegliare le persone.

c. Quando i governi esercitino una sorveglianza – in circostanze eccezionali ed in connessione con la legittima applicazione della legge o con investigazioni riguardanti la sicurezza nazionale – ogni sorveglianza di persone o monitoraggio di comunicazioni tramite i  media digitali deve essere conforme alle leggi ed alle norme del diritto  processuale internazionale in caso di ricerche legittime, ad esempio tramite l’ottenimento di un mandato da parte della magistratura.

d. La piena libertà di espressione implica un diritto alla privacy; tutte le esistenti leggi e norme internazionali  in materia di privacy si applicano ai media digitali, e nuove leggi, norme e protezioni possono essere necessarie.

e. La raccolta e la detenzione di dati e di altre informazioni generate dai media digitali da parte di un governo, inclusa la estrazione di dati, deve essere conforme  alle leggi e norme internazionali in materia di privacy, così come la detenzione di dati deve essere limitata nel tempo, proporzionata alle necessità ed effettivamente comunicata alle persone interessate.

4. Il settore privato, e le imprese del settore tecnologico in particolare, sono vincolati dal diritto di libertà di espressione e dai diritti umani.

a. I principi espressi in questa dichiarazione si applicano in ugual misura al settore privato.

b. Le imprese devono rispettare i diritti umani, incluso il diritto alla libertà di espressione, e devono difendere tali diritti anche quando  le leggi e regolamenti nazionali non li proteggano.

c. Le imprese del settore tecnologico hanno il dovere di determinare come i loro prodotti, servizi e politiche impattino sui diritti umani nei paesi in cui intendono operare. Qualora esista la possibilità di violazioni, o tali violazioni possano essere inestricabilmente connesse all’uso di prodotti o servizi, le imprese dovrebbero modificare o ritirare i piani previsti al fine di rispettare i diritti umani.

d. Le imprese del settore tecnologico dovrebbero incorporare la libertà di espressione nelle loro operazioni principali, ad esempio disegnando prodotti con protezioni della privacy già incorporate.

e. Se si dovesse scoprire che le loro operazioni hanno violato il diritto alla libertà di espressione, le imprese del settore tecnologico dovrebbero risarcire le persone i cui diritti fossero stati violati, anche laddove i governi non offrano soluzioni.

Adottata dal Congresso del PEN International

Gyeongju, Corea del Sud

Settembre 2012

© Traduzione in italiano di Antonio Della Rocca

Presidente del PEN Trieste

PUBBLICAZIONE BULGARA IN ONORE DEL SOCIO PROF. IVAN BUJUKLIEV

Volume pubblicato a Sofia, nel 2012, per i 75 anni del nostro Socio prof. Ivan Bujukliev, con contributi di studiosi italiani (Ferraccioli, Giraudo, Piccat, Benussi, Dell'Agata, Londero) oltre che di studiosi bulgari.


Ad multos annos, Ivan !

3° INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF LITERATURE IN ORDU (TURKEY)

A short (personal) report about my trip to Turkey.

The Municipality of Ordu – a nice city on the Black Sea – did invite a number of foreign guests to this event taking place from 10 to 14 October 2012.

Through Tarik Günersel, President of the Turkish PEN, Gil-Won Lee, President of PEN Korea and myself as President of PEN Trieste – also in our quality of members of the Board of PEN International - were among these guests, along with the Mayors of Drama (GR) and Plovdvid Severen (BG), Nancy Tryposkoufi and Eleftheria Binikou of the International Writers and Translators Centre of Rhodes (GR), the writer Thnasis Skroubelos and the publisher Şebnem Hristakopoulos from Greece, the poet Carolina Ilica and the publisher Dumitru M. Ion from Romania, the writer and poet Bojana Apostolova and the poet Naci Ferhadov from Bulgaria.

For me it was my first time in Turkey and - even if I still have to visit Istanbul sometimes - I doubt I could have chose a better occasion to meet Turkish writers and poets and at the same time having an experience of the Turkish way of life. My personal limit in this has been my complete ignorance of the Turkish language.
Any experience is too short – and a five days one certainly is – to say that you really understood something of a country, of its habitants and of its culture, but I feel richer after this one.

The theme of the Festival was “Cultural ties among cities” – a piece of cake for someone born in Trieste like me :o)

We were welcomed by the Mayor of Ordu, Mr. Seyit Torun, the Governor of the Province of Ordu Mr. Orhan Düzgün and the Festival’s Director General Mr. Şinasi Tepe.

The event was articulated on different interesting venues, mainly Cultural Centres and Theatres, with panels (Cultural interaction among cities, The world of short stories and novels, Poetry in our contemporary times, History of Ordu, Novel heroes inside our lives), presentations and readings.

There were also visits to schools of all grades – with an impressive, attentive participation of students of different ages – including musical exhibitions, a theatre performance, many visits and conversations in the newly refreshed Ordu Centre for World Writers.

The local TV interviewed Tarik, Gil-Won, Nancy, Eleftheria and myself together.

We were treated to many good restaurants, so we could appreciate Turkish food and hospitality.
All in all, the impression I had is that of a complex cultural environment, which expresses itself through the words of the Turkish writers and poets, the Administration having a proactive attention to culture. Freedom of expression is considered in this milieu a value, even if in the country there are the known difficulties.

A couple of very personal notes.

I was really (happily) astonished by the Mayor leading a procession of participants through the city centre, with the City Band and a banner of the Festival ahead of him, while all of us were distributing red carnations to the people around us :o). I’m still wondering if some of our Mayors would show this degree of involvement (frankly speaking, I doubt it).

The second funny experience I had at the end of a visit to a secondary school, when I was (joyfully) assaulted by a bunch of girls and boys asking me for my signature... on the palm of their hands :o)
At the end of this report, I would like to express my thanks to all the organizers of this interesting event, which was quite complicated to manage, and for their kind attention to our well-being.

A special thank you I owe to Mesut Senol with whom I had the first contact (and the last one, because he woke up at I prefer not to know which hour in the morning to make sure we were on a VERY early car to the airport and wish us a good trip home...)

A very hearty hug to all the volunteers – female and male - who took good care of us throughout the Festival, and thanks also to the translators, who had (as always) a hard job to do (not always recognized).

It’s good to know that after only five days you can think of having so many friends in Turkey.

Artecultura di Trieste

Nel numero di settembre della rivista Artecultura di Trieste un trafiletto sulla nomina di Antonio Della Rocca nel Board del PEN International.

La Stampa web

Il quotidiano La Stampa di Torino ha pubblicato giorni fa sul suo sito Web la notizia della nomina di uno scrittore italiano del PEN Trieste a livello internazionale durante il 78° Congresso del PEN International in Corea. Altri giornali non hanno ritenuto di farlo.

78° Congresso Mondiale del PEN International a Gyeongju (Corea del Sud)

Questa è la relazione in inglese che è stata pubblicata giornalmente sulla pagina "PEN International on Facebook" che per ragioni di rapidità pubblico integralmente adesso.
Il ritorno da Gyeongju è stato allietato dal tifone Sanpa che mi ha costretto a percorrere la tratta Gyeongju - Seoul in treno perchè i voli sono stati cancellati... :o)

Ovvia la mia soddisfazione personale per essere membro dell'International Board, il che si riflette sulla visibilità del nostro Centro che non ha ancora compiuto 10 anni.

Mi dispiace solo che Claudio Martelli non abbia potuto avere la soddisfazione di vedere che quanto abbiamo costruito dal 2003 in qua ha avuto un grande riconoscimento a livello internazionale.

From Congress, about Sunday 9th

Arrived on Sunday, on a rainy day. Delegates are coming in but many are still on their way.

Took part in the Finance Subcommittee in the late morning.
An obligatory short nap in the afternoon, meeting delegates, Korean dinner outside the hotel.

In the evening musical entertainment at the Art Centre of Gyeongju, the spectacle being MISO2, about the History of Korea - fantastic scenography and music.
Short night walk in an historical park.
Today more contacts with people and the Opening Ceremony. Meetings in the afternoon.


From the Congress, Monday 10th

More people still coming (it’s a long journey, many are tired, I for one)

Opening Ceremony, speeches of Gilwon Lee, President of PEN Korea, John Ralston Saul and of the Minister of Culture Kwang-shik Choe, the Governor of the Gyeongsagbuk-do Kwan-yong Kim and the Mayor of Gyeongju Yang-sik Choe. Gilwon Lee announced the constitution of the PEN of Korean Writers in Exile.

An interesting video clip about the structure of the Hangul alphabet , invented about 1450 by the king Sejong, an ante litteram example of binary combination of signs thought in order to simplify the Chinese alphabet.

A shorter version of the performance of MISO2 followed by a conference about binary opposition by O Young Lee.

An oceanic lunch with many members of PEN Korea.

Two speeches of the Nobel Prizes Wole Soyinka e Jean-Marie Le Clezio.

Three rounds of seminaries and sharing of experiences – very interesting indeed as methodology - about Centre Governance, Campaigns and Communication/Freedom of Expression, Finance and Fundraising, Public Policy, event hosting (Congresses and Literary Events), Centre Development and Growth. I did a tour through fast every meetings, with a good affluence and many interventions. This is a sure proof that there is an interest for this kind of issues and for the sharing of experiences.

Other oceanic Welcome Dinner with the Korean Drum and Dance Group.

Tomorrow the actual work begins, in the morning meetings of all the 4 Committees.

From the Congress, Tuesday 11

Well, today the sun is shining, and that puts one in another mood.

This morning the PEN Commitees (WWC, WiPC, T&LRC and WfPC) had their Meetings in preparation of the General Meeting.

The Women Writers Committee had to elect its new Chairperson, whose election has to be formally ratified by the General Meeting. Ekbal Baraka (Egyptian PEN) prevailed over Elizabeth Lundgren (Finnish PEN). I think we all (women and men) should be grateful to Judith Buckrich and to Lucina Kathmann for the complicated task they had to carry on during the last year.

I’m personally very happy that the WWC has a new President and that it can reorganize itself with the contribution of all its members. I wish Ekbal all the luck she and the women represented by her deserve, and will put consequently to her/their disposal my experience, that I will be elected or not.

I share with my wife Lina Morselli – who is the antenna of PEN Trieste towards WWC - the belief that individuals could and should work well together irrespective of their sex or gender.

As for the Writers in Prison Committee, Marian Botsford Fraser (Canadian PEN) was confirmed Chairperson of the WiPC. I wish also Marian all the best in the prosecution of her difficult and vital work.

I can’t go into details of the works of WWC, WiPC and T&LRC of this morning because I was engaged in my role into the Writers for Peace Committee.

I happen to know that T&LRC is working on a new document after the Girona Manifest, as we at WfPC are working on a manifest of our own. I suppose that every Committee was going through the Activity Reports of 2011 and was updating its to-do list from now on :o).

John was visiting all the Committees and I suppose that he asked all Committees, as he did for the WiPC, to make concrete proposals for their activity.

After lunch the meetings went on till 16.00, at which time we went to a poetry reading followed by a dinner in the Arts Centre of Geyongju and a musical. If interrogated, I will take the Fifth Amendment, but they say that someone choose a moment of freedom… :o)

Tomorrow morning we have to go back to work, the General Meeting starts at 9.00 exactly. Afterwards there will be some social/cultural activity.


From the Congress, Wednesday 11

Still a sunny day.

The General Meeting starts with the usual half an hour delay :o)

This being a formal session, there are many formalities to be executed.

After a welcome to everybody from the President – and in particular to new Centres and to Delegates who attend for the first time the General Meeting – there is a short speech of the President about the most relevant facts of the last period.

A minute of silence in memoriam for Members deceased in 2011.

To follow:

• the Minutes of the last GM in Belgrade,
• the Report by the International Treasurer
• the Report by International Secretary,
• the the appointment of the Auditors,
• the Report by the Executive Director (multimedia)

all approved unanimously.

A Draft of the PEN International Declaration on Free Expression and Digital Technologies was presented by the Digital Right Committee, headed by Takeaki Hori.

This Draft was already discussed during the meetings of the 4 Committees of yesterday.

A discussion on digital media issues followed. Contribution are still open to Centres and Members.

The General Meeting ended at 12.30. A rush for lunch and off we go to a tour near Gyeongju. Visit to some important monuments and – much to the surprise of many – to a plant dedicated to radioactive waste :o(

We attended a Free the Word Festival at the Dongguk University, with a conversation with Soyinka, Le Clezio and a Korean poet, moderated by John Ralston Saul.

A rush home, that is at the hotel, dinner and relax.

Tomorrow the elections of the President, of 2 Members at Large of the Board and of the Search Committee will take place.


From the Congress, Thursday 13

Sorry for the delay, but yesterday was a busy day... :o)

Schedule was changed, there was first a report about the networks by Frank Geary, and the we went to the Network Workshops. I personally choose to go to the Latin-American Network in order to have an update about the situation of Latin American PEN Centres and be in the position to offer my support.

Back to the General Meeting, there was the item Presentations of Candidates & Elections waiting for us :o)

John Ralston Saul, candidate to the Presidency, was presented by Emile Martel (PEN Quebec).

For the Board, Marketa Heikalova was presented by Gil-Won Lee (PEN Korea), Margie Orford by Nicholas Kalinga (PEN Zambia) and Antonio Della Rocca by Solomon Hailemariam (Ethiopian PEN).

As International Vice President, Vida Ognjenovic was presented by Edvard Kovac (Slovenian PEN).

All candidates presented themselves, and were requested to answer a random question they did know about before.

The results were:

John Ralston Saul was elected with 72 votes (5 abstentions)

For the 2 places of Member at Large of the Board:

Marketa Heikalova got 51 votes

Antonio Della Rocca 48

Margie Orford 46.

Consequently, Marketa and myself were elected.

Vida Ognjenovic was elected with 69 (5 abstentions)

A Panel discussion, chaired by Sara Whyatt, including representatives of the PEN Emergency Fund, the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN).

After lunch, there was the discussion about the PEN International Standing Committee Reports (and the announcement of the results of the internal elections that have to be agreed upon by the General Meeting.

- Writers for Peace Committee - presented by Edi Kovac
- Writers in Prison Committee - presented by Marian Botsford-Fraser
- Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee presented by Emile Martel
- Women Writers Committee presented by Lucina Kathmann

all unanimously approved.

After that, we run off to XXX for a spectacle, a dinner and a musical – all of that in open air but in a strange climate more near to fog than rain... :o)

A PERSONAL CONSIDERATION

So, I have been elected Member at Large of the Board. It was a very good contest, my competitors were above all friends and with many merits. I have to thank for it my colleagues delegates who voted for me, but I feel that I owe also to all the Members of this page for my election.

I think you have a right to know what I told to the General Meeting: I spoke in Spanish and I will post here the original text. Should anyone like to read it in English, I will post it as a file in the next days.

John, Takeaki, Eric, Laura, estimadas Amigas y Amigos,

He decidido hablar en español porque de los idiomas oficiales del PEN este es el que siento más cercano.

Antes de empezar permítanme darle las gracias a Tarik Günersel por haberme cordialmente empujado  a presentar mi candidatura una vez más para la Junta Directiva, a Solomon Hailemariam por su entusiasta presentación, y a Gil-won Lee por la organización de este Congreso. Gam sa hap mi da.

Ya he publicado en Facebook una especie de discurso de presentación en inglés, en el cual explico en detalle a qué quisiera dedicar mis esfuerzos en la hipótesis de ser elegido.

Sin embargo ahora tengo que ser breve, así que he decidido hablarles sobre mi visión general del PEN Internacional.

Nosotros somos una gran organización, y para conseguir nuestro objetivos tememos que mejorar nuestra manera de operar.

Para hacer eso, tenemos que interactuar más y aún más.

La Junta Directiva tiene que interactuar: cada uno de sus miembros debe estar en continuo contacto con los otros y posiblemente tener su campo específico de actividad.

Los Comités tienen que interactuar: cada Comité necesita una estructura apropiada, sus propios recursos financieros y una conexión eficiente con los Ejecutivos y con la Junta Directiva.

Estoy consciente que en mi discurso hay un riesgo de sobresimplificación, pero mi impresión es que actualmente la estructura de los Comités sea desbalanceada, y que esto representa un riesgo para nuestra eficiencia interna y para nuestra imagen externa.

También los Centros tienen que interactuar: los nuevos Networks, las Redes, representan una buena forma de hacerlo, pero yo pienso en el PEN Internacional como en una grande Red, donde cada Centro tiene que considerar su deber – y su placer – la cooperación con otros Centros para la promoción de la literatura. Por ejemplo, el PEN Trieste ya ha editado dos InterPENbooks con nuestros Colegas de Eslovenia y Croacia, y está planeando editar otro con el PEN Colombia.

Considero otrosí un gran ejemplo de este tipo de cooperación las iniciativas conjuntas del Network Uralo-Altaico y del PEN Asia Central en Bishkek.

El hecho de que por dos años seguidos yo haya manejado un espacio libre como la pagina “PEN International on Facebook” les cuenta que estoy abierto a la discusión y que mucho me gustaría que todos lo Miembros del PEN participaran en ella.

En una palabra, si Ustedes deciden elegirme, yo pondré a disposición del PEN mi experiencia específica en asuntos de organización, así como una parte aún más importante de mi tiempo.

Les agradezco su tiempo y su atención.


From the Congress, Friday 14

Still a rainy day...

The session was opened by a speech of salute of the Delegate of Haiti, whose Centre is recovering from the earthquake and from the loss of its President George Anglade.

Two new centres were approved, Lebanon and North Koreans writers in exile, both unanimously.

A centre was proposed for dormancy.

The Pretoria Centre having asked to change its name into Afrikaans Centre, explaining the reasons, and the Board having agreed, the General Meeting approved.

A number of resolutions, mainly about the defence of freedom of expression, were approved by the General Meeting.

The procedure for the election of the members of the Search Committee resulted in Jean-Luc Despax (PEN France), Entela Kasi (PEN Albania), Jens Lohmann (Danish PEN), Elizabeth Nordgren (Finnish PEN) and Eugene Schoulgin (PEN Norway) being elected.

A discussion about “Engaging Young Voices in PEN” was moderated by Laura McVeigh, Executive Director, who called to the stand Harruna Attah (Ghana PEN), Nicholas Kawinga (Zambia PEN), Margie Orford (South African PEN) and. Dalmira Tilepbergenova (Central Asia PEN).

The General Meeting approved the Report on the Congress of Belgrade and approved the choice of Iceland as venue for the 2013 Congress. Einar Karason, President of Icelandic PEN, presented the project.

The Congress ended with a closing ceremony where all Officers and Executives of International PEN where on the stand together with all the people who assured the exit of the Congress itself, to whom a warm “Thank you all “ was dedicated.