When: Tuesday, 27. July 2010 18.30
To: Tuesday, 27. July 2010
Where: London, Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3GA
Host: English PEN
“I am now convinced, more than ever, that the path of literature is the assured way to human salvation and to civilisation. I hail the power of the pen.”
These are the words of poet, novelist and screenwriter and one of Nigeria’s most beloved writers Ken Saro Wiwa who was hanged on 10 November 1995 for speaking out against Nigeria’s successive military governments. His will be one of the seven silenced voices to be brought to life by King’s PEN, English PEN’s inaugural student group, when they bring their sell-out performance.
This performance will mark the 50th anniversary of PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee. On July 24, 1960, at a Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, General Secretary David Carver reported that a committee of three people had been empowered at a previous meeting to research and produce a list of imprisoned writers. The list circulated to delegates that day contained 56 names – seven writers imprisoned in Albania, 25 in Czechoslovakia, 13 in Hungary, two in France and nine in Romania.
Fifty years later, there are more than 900 names on PEN’s case list in over 100 different countries, and the need for solidarity and support is as great as ever. Please join us for what promises to be a moving and innovative performance. All proceeds will be donated to English PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee.
