PEN Oral History Collection
The PEN Oral History Collection records precious testimonies of people associated with the history of PEN.
The collection of interviews was conducted in 2018 by Ginevra Avalle with new and old PEN members who kindly agreed to share their memories as well as their biography and personal perspective on PEN. Their recollections and views have greatly enriched the multifaceted history of PEN.
1 “We insist on our idea of people’s rights to think in their own language, to express themselves, to have an identity”
Read the full story2 “My whole family is being sent to concentration camps because I left in exile”
Read the full story4 “I said to God I needed 10 years where I would work day and night, and then I would be able to die”
Read the full story5 “During the Spanish Civil War, English PEN helped Catalan writers by sending us paper, so we could keep publishing books and journals”
Read the full story7 “When people understand that they are responsible, they can make a difference”
Read the full story10 “Writers in prison are obviously symptoms of disease, which is the failure of democracy and tolerance”
Read the full story13 ‘We give all we can to let the world know that fellow writers are in peril only because they are writing a story’
Read the full story16 “They tried to kill a lawyer, but they couldn’t stop the birth of a novelist”
Read the full story17 “The challenge is to transform this club idea into a 21st century NGO, while remaining a literary club”
Read the full story19 “We need to break the silence; it is the only way we have to fight for justice”
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