From September 6th through the 12th 2004 Norwegian PEN will host International PENs world congress in Tromsø. The safeguarding and further development of literature written in minority languages is one of the main themes at this congress which will take place in Tromsø in the northern part of Norway, the other theme being writers in exile.
The program for the congress is now taking shape and a preliminary agenda has already been distributed to all centres with the invitations. This “package” included a congress registration form and general information about the congress, the city of Tromsø and visa requirements as well as a letter of invitation and information about post-congress tours.
Getting a visa in order to enter Norway may take up to three months. In order to save time and for those of you have already decided to attend the Tromsø congress, information about visa requirements is available through http://www.norskpen.no/en/visa.html
For further information, or if your centre for some reason did not receive all the material from our congress organizers, please contact Norwegian PEN or visit PLUS Conventions´ International PEN congress pages at http://www.berg-hansen.no/congress/page?id=835&key=15263
For further information on Tromsö, see the English website at http://www.destinasjontromso.no/ where you may also download brochures in pdf-format in English, French and German.
You can also read more about the conference venue at http://www.rica.no/ If the English opening page does not work, click HOTELLSÖK to the left on the top of the Norwegian page and look up “Rica Ishavshotel” under Norge and Tromsö in the hotel listing.
