Apart from the traditional 45th 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
7th for dinner and had a meeting on Wednesday 8th, 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.
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