The following is a link to McGarr Solictors’ article which brings into the discussion aspects of  the issue which may interest and inform members.

” You may also have noticed the sudden flurry of media appearances and debates on radio around the issue of Minister of State Seán Sherlock’s plan to introduce a law to allow the music labels (and other copyright holders) to seek injunctions forcing Irish ISPs to block access to sites they don’t like.

“I will introduce this imminently, by the end of January.”
- Minister Sherlock, Sunday Business Post, 22^nd Jan 2012

This SOPA Ireland law, as it is is called, is similar to the proposals defeated in the US only a week ago after a mass uprising of grassroots protest- first from Reddit, and then joined by the biggest names on the net- Google, Wikipedia and so on.

However, unlike that US law, people here can’t even expect to have this blocking law debated in their legislature. The Minister has said that he intends to deal with the matter by way of a Ministerial Order. Nor has he published the text of the law. The first we, the people of Ireland, will know about the text of this law will be when it is signed and brought into force. ”

http://www.mcgarrsolicitors.ie/2012/01/25/stop-sopa-ireland-we-must-have-openness-not-murky-backroom-deal/

Members and associates of Irish PEN may wish to use the comment form to add in further reports and garnered information on the issue of debate in this sensitive area of legislation. Many of us now are using blogs, websites,and varieties of social-media to communicate with our affiliates on a daily and weekly basis. The issue of Arts Practice and  the use of social-media tools has not been fully exploited in Ireland, but we have seen it’s potential at a cross-committee basis.

ISPAI reactions to the proposed legislation : http://www.ispai.ie/

 Irish Times article here  http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0127/1224310799439.html

A few days from now a large delegation – ten of us – will go to Mexico City . This will be a strong expression of solidarity for Mexican writers and journalists. It will also be unprecedented, with the entire Executive going – Hori Takeaki , Eric Lax and myself – as well as the Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee – Marian Botsford Fraser – and representatives of all four North American Centres, as well as the English and Japanese, all going to stand in public with our Mexican colleagues. Émile Martel, Russell Banks, Adrienne Clarkson, Gillian Slovo, Larry Siems and Adam Somers, as well as Renu Mandhane, head of the International Human Rights Program of the University of Toronto ’s Faculty of Law, will join the Executive.

We will be working with the three Mexican PEN Centres – Mexico , Guadalajara and San Miguel Allende. The culmination of this will be a public event organized by Jennifer Clement, President of PEN Mexico , and her members, involving the delegation and some 50 Mexican writers on Sunday, January 29.

There is also a public letter of solidarity to Mexican writers which I hope you will all sign. It is coming to you separately.

This is not a delegation of experts. It is a delegation of writers using our public voice. And what we do and say will be quickly transmitted to you in the hope that you will respond in your own countries.

This is all part of a sustained Mexican PEN campaign. Recently the Day of the Dead initiative initiated by Jens Lohman of Danish PEN and Tony Cohan of San Miguel PEN, spread our concerns about the threats faced by Mexican journalists throughout our membership. We hope that these new Mexican initiative will take on our campaign a stage further.

The PEN International Website

A lot of you are already sending material to the new website. This is what we need: Centres all over the world telling the rest of PEN about their work and their risks. Please contribute.

Finally, these last few weeks have been moving and historically important for Czech writers and for the belief in freedom of expression that all of us have. First, our former President, Jiří Gruša, one of the leading dissident writers of the post war period died. Then Václav Havel, about whom a great deal has rightly been written around the world. Then Ivan Jirous, whom Paul Wilson called the “leader of the Cultural Opposition”. Jirous was a poet, essayist and leader of the psychedelic rock band Plastic People of the Universe. The struggle to get him out of prison in part inspired the Chapter 77 movement. And finally, Josef Škvorecký has died, another great writer and leading dissident. Living in exile in Toronto he created 68 Publishers in 1971 and for two decades published banned Czech and Slovak writers. The books then made their way illegally back into Czechoslovakia . Of course, there are many more names, but when four courageous and inspired writers die almost together it should be marked as an important moment for all of us in PEN.

Best wishes,

John Ralston Saul

EDIT: The link to the PENProtesta petition against impunity in Mexico is available here

The  IPWWC , the International PEN Women Writer’s Committee.

“The Women Writers’ Committee was set up in 1991 to promote certain issues faced by women writers around the world – challenges at family and national levels such as unequal education, unequal access to resources and actual prohibition from writing.

The committee reaches out to both aspiring and practising women writers through PEN Centres and other organisations and networks, and works with the Writers in Prison Committee on behalf of incarcerated or endangered women writers.

Representatives from the committee attend meetings of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. The committee has held conferences in countries such as Nepal, Kyrgyzstan and Senegal, and has published special newsletters. It uses Facebook to connect the work of women writers to the world. “

The Diversity Blog was launched on the 12/01/2012 and is encouraging women writers to contribute in creative areas ,like translation, poetry and literature. The information and contacts are carried at  this link.  More than ever social-media outlets like Facebook are contributing to new connections between women writers.  PEN International is facilitating these contacts across a variety of platforms which include Websites, Facebook and Twitter. There are currently two discussion groups for members and associates of PEN available on the Facebook platform, the PEN International discussion group (231 members) and the PEN International group of writers sharing opinions and texts.

Members can choose to contribute to these above-mentioned groups , or to link up with their international colleagues through sites like Diversity. Irish PEN has a Facebook account where queries regarding social-media can be sent by direct-messaging, alternatively contacts can be addressed to the Irish PEN  addresses, which I am linking  below here.

Useful Irish PEN Contacts

Irish PEN Phone Number : 087 966 0770

Irish PEN Email Contact : info@irishpen.com

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The late Caroline Walsh

Irish PEN is very sorry to hear of the sudden death of Caroline Walsh, literary editor of The Irish Times. Caroline was a great friend of Irish PEN. She regularly attended our annual dinners and awards, and she gave mention to our various events through the years. Her mother, celebrated writer Mary Lavin, had been an active member of the Irish PEN committee many years ago. We had looked forward to seeing Caroline again at our award ceremony next February.

Chair of Irish PEN, Joe Armstrong, adds: ‘Caroline was my first editor at the Irish Times, having commissioned me to write the Man Alive column, which ran for a year while Caroline was features editor. I’m shocked by her sudden death. She was a true friend of Irish PEN. We shall miss her.’

We extend our condolences to the staff of the Irish Times and to the literary community. Details and obituary for Caroline Walsh are linked herein.

  Caroline Walsh’s death-notice is linked here  http://notices.irishtimes.com/13195072

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More than 100 poets from the 5 continents have participated every year since 1989.

The city of Trois Rivieres in on the St Lawrence seaway, half way between Montreal and Quebec. We provide travel for poets to and from Montreal airport.

There are 400 poems on walls in the city. We display 5000 in a park in the town centre during the festival.

The guest poets have only one thing to do – read their poems 2 or 3 times a day, no lectures. But they must already have at least 30 poems translated into French, as Quebec is 80% French-speaking, and our city is 99%.

One of our group will introduce the poet before the reading, read their poem in French, and then the poet will read it in his native language.

There will be about 350-400 readings of poems during the 10 day festival period,

28 September to 7 October.

More than 10000 people will attend 4-7 readings, out of the 40000 attendees.

We offer poets hospitality in a hotel, with a daily allowance for meals and another for readings.

The programme of the 27^th festival is on our website, as well as an incomplete list of previous participants.

For 2012, invitations are only offered to members of a PEN CLUB, but not in future years.

We would like to host an Irish poet every year.          Information is at link :  www.fiptr.com

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'Unsweet Dreams' by Anne Le Marquand Hartigan

‘Unsweet Dreams’ by Anne Le Marquand Hartigan is a new collection of poetry will be launched  next Wednesday 7th December at the Irish Writers’ Centre.

Information about the book is available from the Salmon Website :  http://www.salmonpoetry.com/details.php?ID=244&a=109

]]> http://www.irishpen.com/wordpress/2011/12/01/launch-of-unsweet-dreams-by-anne-le-marquand-hartigan-7th-december-iwc/feed/ 0 http://www.irishpen.com/wordpress/2011/11/29/joseph-o-connor-is-to-receive-the-2012-irish-pen-award/ http://www.irishpen.com/wordpress/2011/11/29/joseph-o-connor-is-to-receive-the-2012-irish-pen-award/#comments Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:52:40 +0000 Christine Murray http://www.irishpen.com/wordpress/?p=1276  

In Very Exciting News, we are delighted to announce that President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, will present Irish PEN’s Award to Joseph O’Connor on February 10th 2012, to mark his outstanding contribution to Irish Literature.

Irish PEN’s Award dinner will be held at the Royal St George Yacht Club, Dún Laoghaire.  The Committee of Irish PEN welcomes members and associates of Irish PEN, along with members of the public to come and celebrate this award to mark a terrific achievement.

The 2012 Irish PEN Dinner and Award is  open to the public  who can obtain tickets at the following eventbrite link

http://www.irishpendinner.eventbrite.com/

Author Joseph O Connor Recipient of the 2012 Irish PEN Award

In 1998 Irish PEN set up an award to honour an Irish-born writer who has made an outstanding contribution to Irish Literature. This Award is for a significant body of work, written and produced over a number of years, and is open to novelists, playwrights, poets, scriptwriters etc.

This year Irish PEN is delighted to be honouring Joseph O’Connor with the Irish PEN Award. The Award will be made on 10th February 2012 at the annual Irish PEN dinner,  held at the Royal St George Yacht  Club,  Dún Laoighre.

Members of Irish PEN, as well as previous winners nominate and vote for the candidate. In keeping with the tradition started at the W.B. Yeats dinner in 1935, the writer is presented with the Award in the company of other writers
at our annual dinner.

About Joseph O’ Connor 

Joseph O’Connor was born in Dublin. He is the author of the novels Cowboys and Indians (short-listed for the Whitbread Prize), Desperadoes,  The Salesman , Inishowen , Star of the Sea  and Redemption Falls, as well as a number of bestselling works of non-fiction. He has also written film scripts and stage-plays including the award-winning Red Roses and Petrol.  His novel Star of the Sea was an international bestseller, selling more than a million copies and being published in 38 languages. It won France’s Prix Millepages,  Italy’s Premio Acerbi,  the Irish Post Award for Fiction, the Neilsen Bookscan Golden Book Award,  an American Library Association Award, the Hennessy / Sunday Tribune Hall of Fame Award, and the Prix Litteraire Zepter for European Novel of the Year.

He was recently voted Irish Writer of the Decade by the readers of Hot Press magazine. He broadcasts a popular weekly radio diary on RTE’s Drivetime With Mary Wilson and writes regularly for The Guardian Review and The Sunday Independent. In 2009 he was the Harman Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Baruch College, the City University of New York. His most recent novel Ghost Light was published in June 2010 to rave reviews internationally and spent nine weeks as a number one Irish besteller. It was chosen as Dublin’s One City One Book novel for 2011.

 The  2012 Irish PEN Dinner and Award is  open to the public  who can obtain tickets at the following eventbrite link

http://www.irishpendinner.eventbrite.com/ 

Cheques for Postal applications for the Irish PEN 2012 Award Dinner can be sent to :

Vanessa O ‘Loughlin  

The Old Post Office,

Kilmacanogue,

County Wicklow.

Please Confirm your payment via the following form : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/gform?pli=1&key=0Ahttw3yUnNO9dHVwV1ZUUHdveG5uZmpVNU5ldUtCdXc&hl=en#edit

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The 77^th International Pen Congress was held in Belgrade on 12-18 September 2011. Over 200 delegates and other participants attended from over 60 countries. The theme of the Congress was Literature – language of the world. In a welcoming address Vida Ognjenovic, President of the Serbian Centre, noted that people still faced discrimination and suffered from conflicts and wars. Thus the world needed a literature which would engage both at the level of creative imagination and conscience and so provide for mutual understanding. She decried the misuse of language when it became the handmaid of ‘mass media manipulation, consumption managerial pragmatism and political oppression.’ She expressed her hope that the Belgrade Congress would help to elevate literature to its pristine purpose in ensuring freedom of expression that it remained ‘alive and vital’ to that end across the world. The theme of the congress was subsequently rehearsed in the various discussions, meetings and seminars. Among these was a fascinating discussion on Swedish Pen’s strategic use of new technologies to champion freedom of expression across the Internet.

Various Committees with specific agenda held meetings. These included: Committee for Women Writers, Committee for Writers for Peace, Committee for Writers in Prison and Committee for Translation and Linguistic Rights.

The Committee for Writers in Prison highlighted the plight of Dawit Isaac in Eritrea. Owner of a weekly newspaper, playwright and writer, he was arrested in 2001. He was one of nine journalists arrested without being charged or tried, four of whom have died in custody. Isaac holds Swedish and Eritrean citizenship, yet notwithstanding the best efforts of the Swedish government and Pen, Dawit Isaac remains in prison.

The Committee discussed the organisation of an international protest at the continuing deaths of journalists and writers in Mexico. Since 2006 when President Calderon began his military campaign against the drug cartels, 34 writers (32 journalists, one author and one poet) have been murdered. While organised crime groups are mainly responsible, state agents, government officials and the police are, it seems, perpetrators of violence against journalists and complicit in its continuance. Pen groups were requested to remember Mexico’s fallen journalists and writers on 2 November 2011 in appropriate and effective ways.

The meeting was also given a fascinating account of a recent visit by a delegation from US Pen to the Republic of China. The surveillance of journalists and writers in China continues to be Orwellian. Members of the delegation were unable to meet or communicate with imprisoned Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, or even his wife.

In the light of Pen’s mission to uphold freedom of expression and freedom of speech, the Pen world family were urged to continue its concern for those not accorded that fundamental right.

J. Anthony Gaughan.

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“Our thoughts are with Norwegian PEN, its members, our friends and supporters at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cities of Refuge Network, and Norwegian publishers as well as all the people of Norway.

Norway’s tolerant and open-minded approach to the world and its deep commitment to human rights makes the attack even more shocking. Yet we believe that these very qualities will help our Norwegian friends and colleagues to find ways to overcome these very terrible events with dignity and resolve. ”

John Ralston Saul, International President
Takeaki Hori, International Secretary

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/bvcl9d