THE 84TH CONGRESS OF PEN
INTERNATIONAL HELD IN PUNE (INDIA)
Like every
year, here is a quick report on the main topics discussed at the Congress held
between 25 and 29 September 2018 in Pune, the second largest city of the state
of Maharashtra after the capital Mumbai.
The
Congress was organized by PEN South India, based in Pune, a Centre that was
accepted at the Lviv Congress just a year ago.
Organizer
and soul of the Congress was Prof. Ganesh Narayandas Devy, President of the
Centre and University Professor, particularly known for his studies of
linguistics and for organizing the People's Linguistic Survey of India.
Before the
Congress, the usual session of the PEN International Board was held on Monday 24, in which I participated
for the last time as my office was coming to an end after two terms.
At the end
of the day we visited an interesting exhibition of art and local crafts at an
art gallery.
On Tuesday 25, works began with the parallel sessions of the
Standing Committees (Writers in Prison, Translation and Linguistic Rights,
Women Writers and Writers for Peace), while some delegates of the Board
participated in a floreal offer at the Jotiba Phule Memorial, in the centre of
the city. In the nineteenth century Jotiba Phule was an important social thinker
and reformer, favourable to the abolition of castes and the emancipation of
women through education.
In the
afternoon there was a welcome speech by the Vice Chancellor of the University
of Pune, followed by a visit to the Aga Khan Palace, where the Memorial
dedicated to Gandhi is located. We rendered homage to the tombs of the Mahatma
and his wife Kasturba, who lived there in the forties.
Subsequently
we moved to the Symbiosis University for a series of welcome speeches - with
the presence of numerous local authorities -, a speech by prof. Ganesh Devy
entitled "Why PEN? Why Pune? " and a play on the life of Kasturba
Gandhi. A copy of bilingual biography of Gandhi was presented to the Delegates.
On Wednesday 26 the meetings of the Permanent Committees
continued in the morning.
In the
afternoon the General Assembly of PEN International began with the welcome of
the President, the presentation of Empty Chair No. 1 Daphne Caruana Galizia,
and a minute of silence in memory of the deceased Members.
After the
formal procedures, many Centres did report on their main activities in the
current year.
The reports
of the President, the Secretary and the Treasurer were presented.
After a
panel on the events of the Women's Manifesto and a report on the activities of
VIDA/Women in Literary Arts, the Assembly did adjourn.
I had a meeting
with the archivist who will oversee the research for the Centenary of PEN
International and related publications, a very interesting project.
On Thursday 27 the works began with the presentation of the
Empty Chair n. 2, dedicated to three writers from Eritrea, Amanuel Asrat, Dawit
Isaak and Idris Said Asa Arre.
The report
of the Board members and the dossier of the detailed report of the Executive
Director were presented. A report on the peculiar activity of the PEN Emergency
Fund followed.
Abridged
versions of the Chairs reports of the Standing Committees, already widely explained
in the dedicated meetings, did follow. The speakers were: Marjan Strojan
(WfPC), Elisabeth Nordgren (WWC), Salil Tripathi (WiPC) and Simona Skrabeč
(T&LRC).
The
elections were then held. The elected candidates are:
President:
•
Jennifer
Clement - re-elected and not re-eligible
Board
Members:
•
Ola
Larsmo - elected and re-eligible
•
Burhan
Sonmez - elected and re-eligible
•
Regula
Venske - re-elected and not re-eligible
Members of
the Search Committee:
•
Antonio Della Rocca
•
Rose Mary Espinosa
•
Judith Rodriguez
•
Caroline Stockford
•
Urtzi Urruticoetxea
The
elections to Chair of the respective Committees of Salil Tripathi (WiPC) and
Zoë Rodriguez (WWC) was confirmed by the Assembly. Subsequently, the Search
Committee announced the election to Chair of Caroline Stockford.
Honorary
vice-presidents for literary merit have been elected:
•
Ngugi
wa Thiong'o
•
Perumal
Murugan
•
Nayantara
Sahgal
With a
variation on the agenda, at this point we examined and discussed four
resolutions proposed by the Writers for Peace Committee concerning Hungary,
Israel, Denuclearization and the use of Chemicals and other indiscriminate
weapons. All resolutions have been approved by a large majority.
The figure
of Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov, imprisoned in Russia, was remembered.
Five
new Centres were presented to the Assembly:
• Cabo Verde
• Guinea Bissau
• Iraq
• Perth
• Moscow
The
delegates of Cabo Verde and Guinea-Bissau could not intervene due to visa
problems, which is absurd in today's world.
After
adequate discussion behind closed doors, the first four were accepted
unanimously and the fifth by a large majority, and they were invited to
participate fully in the Assembly.
Friday 28 was dedicated to external activities.
The
delegates planted trees in a specially dedicated square at the University of
Pune in memory of Savitribai Phule, a poet and eminent Indian reformer, paladin
of women's education, which gives her name to the University itself.
These trees
will form a "Languages Park" according to an initiative of Prof.
Ganesh Devi. When the park is completed with at least 180 trees, it will
ideally represent around 6,000 languages spoken in the world, as Chancellor
Prof. Nitin Karmalkar said.
From the
University of Pune, about twenty groups of Delegates went out - together with
Indian writers - to take part in demonstrations in as many cultural
institutions.
I was part
of the group that was a guest of the Suryadatta College of Management Information
Research and Technology, in front of a large group of students very interested
in learning about our experiences as writers. We have been the subject of an
exquisite reception by the faculty.
From the
respective events we convened to a meeting point from which we started for a
Wari, an Indian word that can be translated by “procession” or “pilgrimage”. In
this "language procession" the words "Truth, Freedom,
Diversity" were present in placards representing 6000 languages.
The
procession, made up of students, delegates from PEN International and a group
of singers, left the Savitribai Phule University to end at the Balgandharva
Bridge and then to the Balgandharva Auditorium where Ngugi wa Thiong'o should
have held a speech, who unfortunately could not join us for health reasons.
On Saturday 29 the Assembly resumed its works, introducing
the Empty Chair no. 3 Shahidul Alam, a Bangladesh writer.
There were
discussions about the Centenary of the Foundation, which falls in 2021 and will
be celebrated in Oxford, and about the retrieval and preparation of the
archival material necessary for the documentation of the Centenary itself.
Then the
voting process of the resolutions presented by various Centres to the Assembly
began. They have all been approved, many by unanimity and some by a large
majority.
The panel
on criminal defamation was followed by several testimonies. Two more panels
were held, one on xenophobia and the other on hate speech.
The PEN
Galicia proposed a meeting of the PENs existing in Spain on the first days of
April 2019.
After a
report on the state of the Make Space program, we listened to the PEN Ukraine
report on the 2017 Lviv Congress.
The
communication from the Board that the 2019 Congress will have to be held in
Manila, in the Philippines, met with some contrariety of the Delegates, who
took note of the situation suddenly arisen that made not possible to hold a
Congress in Buenos Aires, as indicated so far.
The final
decision was referred to the Board.
After the
usual Delegates photo, in the evening we had the equally ritual Dinner.
On Sunday 30 in the morning the Board met for the usual
post-congress session. As I was no longer part of the Board I did not
participate, except for a brief appearance of greeting.
In the
evening I left for Trieste.
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