PEN International is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 by Catherine Amy Dawson Scott and John Galsworthy to promote intellectual cooperation among writers and to fight for their rights. In 2010 PEN International numbered more than 140 free-standing representative offices in different countries. The current President of PEN International is a novelist Jennifer Clement.
PEN Belarus was founded in 1989 by the Committee which included 20 Belarusian writers. It was admitted to PEN International in May 1990 at the 55 Congress on Madeira Island. Justice Ministry of the Republic of Belarus registered PEN Belarus on November 16th 1990 on the grounds of the Statute and the Resolution of the Council of Ministers №274 dd. November 1st 1990 and reregistered on October 31st 1999. As a member of PEN International PEN Belarus has a status A in the UNESCO and consultative status in the UN.
In 1994 PEN Belarus found two annual literary awards which are given to prominent writers to reward their work and to celebrate their achievements. These are Ales Adamovich Award and Frantsishak Bahushevich Award. In 2012 PEN Belarus became one of the founders of the Jerzy Giedroyc Literary Award. These awards still exist and, at the same time, new projects and awards are created.
Since 1996 PEN Belarus is a member of the Writers in Prison Committee established in 1960 by the Assembly of Delegates of PEN International.
Presidents of PEN Belarus
Our mission is to develop Belarusian culture, defend freedom of expression and the rights of writers, journalists and other literary women and men.
We create space for dialogue, foster the development of Belarusian literary process and Belarusian culture in general, fight against any manifestations of hatred and stand up for the universal ideals of peace and equality. We consistently defend freedom of expression and campaign to draw attention of Belarusian and international community to the violations of writers’ rights.
The members of PEN Belarus adhere the Belarusian PEN Charter, share the principles and values of the PEN International Charter, acknowledge the Principles of Human Rights Defenders developed by the Belarusian Human Rights Community.
Freedom of expression and cultural development
PEN Belarus operates in two key areas: creativeness and human rights.
The former is represented mainly by literary prizes (Aleś Adamovič Award, Francišak Bahuševič Award, Jerzy Giedroyć Literary Award, Natallia Arsieńnieva Award, Carlos Sherman Award, Maksim Bahdanovič Debut Award, Michal Aniempadystaŭ Award, and other), Audiotheque, festivals, creative residencies and educational projects (e.g. translation workshops), providing creators with opportunities to fulfill their potential and create spaces for cultural development.
As part of its human rights activities, PEN Belarus monitors the situation in the cultural sphere, issues biweekly chronicles reflecting rights violations in this matter, and produces analytical reports based.
PEN Belarus also provides support to the repressed cultural activists in Belarus and raises funds to support Ukrainian cultural activists during the war.
PEN Belarus was banned in Belarus by a Supreme Court decision on August 9, 2021, the anniversary of the presidential election. From 2020 to 2022 we had to cope with the Ministry of Justice’s inspections and searches, liquidation, and the relocation of our headquarters to Warsaw. However, we did not interrupt our activities for a single day.
Nobel laureate in Literature Svetlana Alexievich and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aleś Bialacki (currently a political prisoner) are members of PEN Belarus.
As of today, the PEN Belarus operates in Poland where it has been registered as an association (stowarzyszenie).
PEN Belarus’ contacts
[email protected]
www.penbelarus.org
PEN Belarus on social media:
Facebook penbelarus.org
Vkontakte pen_belarus
Instagram pen_belarus