PEN (organization)

• FOUNDED: 1921
• TYPE OF ORGANIZATION: International writers’ organization

SIGNIFICANCE: PEN was formed to foster communication among writers and to combat censorship

An acronym for “Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists,” PEN was founded by English writer Mrs. C. A. Dawson-Scott. Playwrights and editors were not originally in the organization's name and were added at a later date. Under the leadership of its first president, novelist and playwright John Galsworthy, PEN aggressively promoted cooperation among writers throughout the world. The organization has consistently supported the ideal of literature as freedom of expression, and it has seen literature as a vehicle for stimulating and sustaining international goodwill. It deems any organization, government, or group seeking to limit the spread of literature or its free expression a force for censorship.

PEN leaders and members have mobilized several campaigns to free imprisoned writers by writing letters to government authorities and by publishing reports and articles in the international press. PEN congresses have been held in settings both friendly and hostile to free speech and literature. Leaders of PEN, such as former president Francis King, have led delegations and arranged meetings in countries such as North Korea, where appeals have been made on behalf of imprisoned writers. PEN meetings in Eastern Europe protested the incarceration of writers critical of communist governments. In South Africa, PEN members worked for a fully integrated organization for writers. PEN has also been active in opposing Iran’s sentence of death imposed on Salman Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses (1988) was deemed blasphemous.

PEN International has more than one hundred chapters around the world. The US PEN chapter has been headed by such distinguished writers as Arthur Miller, Norman Mailer, and Susan Sontag. Mailer expressed the organization’s view that because writers worldwide can speak to one another more quickly than governments, they can create bridges of cooperation. However, his presidency became controversial when he invited US Secretary of State George Schultz to address a PEN meeting in 1984. Many members felt the organization was compromised by inviting a speaker implicated in political actions that had contributed to the censorship of writers. Concerns over foreign policy and attempts to limit the freedom of expression of writers reporting from specific regions also influenced this controversy. 

PEN’s ongoing work includes educational programs and an annual censorship survey, an accounting of the fate of writers and their work worldwide. To a large extent, PEN has functioned as a human rights organization, akin to Amnesty International, by publishing reports and letters signed by prominent writers calling attention to the coercion of writers and the suppression of literature throughout the world. At the same time, PEN presidents have worked behind the scenes, negotiating with governments for the release of writers or petitioning officials for appeals of court cases and prison sentences. In the twenty-first century, PEN continued to protect reporters' freedom of expression in conflict areas. It has also adapted to the digital age, taking on causes of freedom of expression on the internet. PEN argued against online censorship and government surveillance of work published online. Further, PEN kept an online database of writers at risk of persecution and actively advocates for prosecuting those who attack writers, jeopardizing their freedom of expression. 

In the mid-2020s, PEN International continued its high-profile advocacy through initiatives such as the 2025 Case List—Identity on Trial: Persecution and Resistance, which documented global censorship and the repression of writers. The organization also maintained consultative status with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Economic and Social Council, underscoring its formal role in international human rights advocacy. Adapting to the digital era, PEN expanded its work to include online campaigns, a digital writers-at-risk database, and active opposition to internet censorship. Into the mid-2020s, campaigns continued to address cases such as the prosecution of Kurdish writer Yavuz Ekinci in Türkiye.

Bibliography

"PEN International Launches Emergency Assistance, Its Policy Dialogue on the Need to Protect Writers in Times of Crisis." PEN International, 25 Sept. 2024, www.pen-international.org/news/pen-international-launches-emergency-assistance-its-policy-dialogue-on-the-need-to-protect-writers-in-times-of-crisisnbsp. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.

“Türkiye: Writer Yavuz Ekinci on Trial Again as Spurious Terror-Propaganda Case Resumes.” PEN International, 4 July 2025, www.pen-international.org/news/trkiye-writer-yavuz-ekinci-on-trial-again-as-spurious-terror-propaganda-case-resumes. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.

Vo, Anh-Thu. "PEN America Criticizes U.S. Human Rights Record at the U.N. Human Rights Committee." PEN America, 13 Sept. 2023, pen.org/pen-america-criticizes-u-s-human-rights-record. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.

"Writers at Risk Database." PEN America, pen.org/writers-at-risk. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.