For Press Release
April 21, 2010
Solidarity with Liu Xiaobo, Free the Word!
– International PENs Third Festival of World Literature in London
(Independent Chinese PEN Centre, April 19, 2010) On April 14-18, International PEN staged in London its third festival of world literature Free the Word!”. As world’s largest and oldest organization of writers, PEN has been promoting the concerns about the literary quality and freedom of expression for writers over the world. Since its first literary festival in 2008, Free the Word!” has gradually become one of the most important literary events in the world.
Although the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland has resulted in the emergent control of European aviations that hindered some of the invited writers from coming, the Festival was still very colourful. In particular, the Festival had some special events to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of the International PEN. Dr. Liu Xiaobo, the honorary and former president of Independent Chinese PEN Centre (ICPC), was featured as an icon of currently imprisoned writers and so became the focus of those events to mark a great concerns about the situation of the independent writers in China.
Although none of its writers was a guest of honour at the Festival, two of ICPC members Miss Li Jianhong, its Documentation Secretary and WiPC member in Sweden, Mr. Lin Maochun, a poet in China, were invited to participate in various activities for communication with other PEN writers. Unfortunately due to the volcanic eruption, Miss Li was trapped on halfway in Frankfurt while Mr Lin had no enough time to get a visa to UK. It was fortunate that Mr. Yang Lian, a Board Member of the International PEN as well as a member of ICPCs Literature Exchange and Translation Committee resides in London and so attended some events on behalf of ICPC.
One of the most important events was the 50th anniversary celebration of Writers in Prison Committee at the Wolfson Theatre, London School of Economics, in the afternoon on April 16. The event is opened by WiPC Chairwoman Marian Botsford Fraser, and chaired by Michela Wrong, a famous British investigative journalist. The main speakers were Nawal El Saadawi, one of most renowned Egyptian writers, and Irakli Kakabadze, a well-known Georgian writer and performance artist, both of whom had been imprisoned for criticizing the authoritarian politics and supported by PEN for their freedom. On the podium, however, the most striking was an empty chair with a portrait of Dr. Liu Xiaobo on it to feature his absence as a symbol of the imprisoned writers and to demonstrate the solidarity of WiPC and PEN members with the independent thinker in China. This position was not only expressing the respects and concerns for Liu and the protests against the illegal imprisonment of writers, but also characterizing the theme of a yearlong campaign Because Writers Speak Their Minds, in a Chinas case that represents today’s situation of human beings. As Yang Lian pointed out in his impromptu speech, this world was ever so contradictory that its crisis of thoughts was even more severer than the economic crisis, and the meanings of Liu Xiaobo and “Charter 08” was far beyond China’s borders. Facing such a crisis, the writers could not imagine relying on any kind of authorities but only on their own works through independent thinking, literary creation, mutual understanding and support. The participants included also International President of International PEN Dr. John Ralston Saul, International Secretary Eugene Schoulgin, Executive Director Caroline McCormick and other officers.
Coincided with the literary festival, ICPC was finalizing the inaugural issue of its literary quarterly of English translation, PEN for Freedom, a special issue for 50th anniversary of Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN. Although only a sample versin, this special issue has drawn great attentions from other PEN centres, independent foundations and writers at the Festival. The quarterly is a joint effort between ICPC and some English-speaking centres to promote the literary works by ICPC members and Chinese imprisoned writers.
Although the Festival ended on April 18, for ICPC presenting the translated works by its members to the PEN colleagues over the world, this is a new start.
The Independent Chinese PEN Center is among 145 member centers of the International PEN, the oldest human rights organization and international literary organization. It aims to protect Chinese writers’ freedom of speech and freedom to write worldwide and advocates for the rights of Chinese writers and journalists who are imprisoned, threatened, persecuted or harassed. For more information on ICPC’s work, please visit https://www.chinesepen.org/old-posts,
or contact:
Dr. Yu Zhang
Executive Secretary and WiPC Coordinator
Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC)
Tel: +46-8-50022792
Email: [email protected],[email protected]