The World of Writers

International PEN, worldwide association of writers that includes poets, essayists, novelists, historians, critics, translators, editors, journalists, and screenwriters. The organization was founded in 1921 in London as a non-political, non-governmental organization committed to the craft and art of writing and a commitment to freedom of expression through the written word. The organization maintains 141 centers in 99 countries around the world.

Membership in PEN is open to qualified writers of all nationalities, races, and religions, and members must subscribe to the PEN charter. This charter states that the organization will work to promote friendship and goodwill among writers, to foster understanding through literature, and to dispel class, racial, and national hatreds. Members have included Joseph Conrad, D. H. Lawrence, George Bernard Shaw, Alberto Moravia, Chinua Achebe, Susan Sontag, and Václav Havel, among others. International PEN is headed by an international president who is elected every three years.

Among the programs maintained by the organization are PEN's Writers in Prison Committee, based in London, which cooperates with human-rights organizations in obtaining and disseminating information about writers and journalists who have been harassed or imprisoned for expressing their views. The Committee for Translation and Linguistic Rights, based in Barcelona, Spain, encourages the translation of “small” languages and defends languages threatened with extinction. The Writers for Peace Committee, based in Ljubljana, Slovenia, explores ways in which writers can further the cause of world peace. The Women Writers' Committee, based in New York City, promotes women's writing and publishing in developing countries.

International PEN holds an annual congress as well as regional conferences and symposia. It also publishes PEN International, a biannual literary magazine that also serves as a forum for the views of the organization.