Sydney PEN, also referred as International PEN Sydney Centre Inc., is based in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Founded in 1931, it is one of the three Australian PEN Centres, and is an affiliate of

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...

. It is an association of Australian writers and readers, publishers and human rights activists, established with the aim to promote literature, freedom of expression and to foster local culture and understanding. In November 2004, Sydney PEN, as part of the Australian PEN network, won the

Human Rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

and Equal Opportunity Community Award for its work with asylum seeker writers held in Australian detention centres.

History

Sydney PEN was founded in 1931 by

Ethel Turner Ethel Turner (24 January 1870 – 8 April 1958) was an English-born Australian novelist and children's literature writer. Life She was born Ethel Mary Burwell in Doncaster in England. Her father died when she was two, leaving her mother Sarah J ...

Mary Gilmore Dame Mary Jean Gilmore (née Cameron; 16 August 18653 December 1962) was an Australian writer and journalist known for her prolific contributions to Australian literature and the broader national discourse. She wrote both prose and poetry. Gi ...

, and

Dorothea Mackellar Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar, (1 July 1885 – 14 January 1968) was an Australian poet and fiction writer. Her poem ''My Country'' is widely known in Australia, especially its second stanza, which begins: "''I love a sunburnt country/ ...

. Since inception, it has conducted campaigns and events supporting literature, fostering international understanding and defending

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

Sydney PEN Campaigns

In 2008, Sydney PEN, together with International Pen, helped to release 94 writers from prison. Its Writers in Prison program selects urgent regional cases that feature public advocacy campaigns. It has carried out campaigns for Father Nguyen Van Ly, Tashi Rabten, Liu Xia, Gheyret Niyaz,

Liu Xianbin Liu Xianbin (born October 2, 1968), from Suining, Sichuan province, People's Republic of China, is a human rights activist, China Democracy Party organizer, writer and signer of Charter 08. Biography Liu Xianbin was born on October 2, 1968, in ...

Tan Zuoren Tan Zuoren (born 15 May 1954), from Chengdu, Sichuan province, People's Republic of China, is an environmentalist, writer and former editor of ''Literati'' magazine (文化人).Chinadigitaltimes.com.Chinadigitaltimes.com" ''Cui Weiping (崔卫平 ...

Liu Xiaobo Liu Xiaobo (; 28 December 1955 – 13 July 2017) was a Chinese writer, literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end communist one-par ...

, Nurnuhemmet Yasin, Ragip Zarakolu and Busra Ersanh.

Awards & Recognitions

Sydney PEN Award

Established in 2006, Sydney PEN Award hosts annual awards that serve to recognise the members who has worked hard to promote the PEN Centre's value. * Dr. Rosie Scott (2006) * Nicholas Jose (2007) * Chip Rolley (2008) * Dr. Denise Leith (2009) * Gaby Naher (2010)

PEN Keneally Award

Sydney PEN, along with other two Australian PEN Centres, established a new biennial award "PEN Keneally Award" in 2004, for recognising an achievement in promoting freedom of expression, international understanding and access to literature. The award is named in the honour of

Thomas Keneally Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his non-fiction novel ''Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Holocaust, wh ...

AO for ''‘his lifetime’s commitment to the values of PEN’''.

Publications

Sydney PEN Magazine is a bi-annual publication, which contains articles, news on PEN's work, interviews, literary publications and translations. The magazine is produced in support by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the

University of Technology, Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

, and has been using CAL Cultural Fund.

References

External links

Sydney PENSydney PEN: Statement of Objects (Jan 2011)Sydney PEN (Intl. PEN Sydney Centre) IncorporatedInternational PENSydney PEN's Official Facebook Page
{{Authority control 1931 establishments in Australia International PEN centers Organisations based in Sydney