MINUTES of the International Meeting of the PEN International Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee

MINUTES of the international meeting of the PEN International Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee

21 st – 23 rd April 2015, Barcelona

In Barcelona, on 21 st - 23 rd April 2015 the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee of PEN International, met as previously arranged by its president, Simona Škrabec, and Catalan PEN.

The following persons attended the meeting:

Representatives of PEN International: TAKEAKI HORI, General Secretary of PEN International CARLES TORNER, Executive Director of PEN International SIMONA ŠKRABEC, President of the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee of PEN International

Representatives of PEN centres: Basque PEN, MARIA COLERA INTXAUSTI Basque PEN, PETRA ELSER Chinese Independent PEN, BEI LING HUANG Esperanto PEN, GIORGIO SILFER Japanese PEN, TSUTOMU IDE Norwegian PEN, BENTE CHRISTENSEN Portuguese PEN, TERESA CADETE Puerto Rican PEN, JOSE E. MURATTI TORO Quebecois PEN, LOUIS JOLICOEUR Slovene PEN, MARJAN STROJAN South African PEN, ADRE MARSHALL Suisse-Romand PEN, ALIX PARODI Ukrainian PEN, ANDREY KURKOV

Invited speakers: Andrey Kurkov, Writer, Ukraine Lluís Caelles, Journalist, Catalonia

Invited consultants: DAVE PEARSON, SIL International ALEXANDRA BÜCHLER, Literature across Frontiers BEL OLID, CEATL JOSEP M. TERRICABRAS, former Chair of TLRC

Project presentations: Declaration of Québec, Québec congress (October 2015) Louis Jolicoeur, Québécois PEN

Summit on European Language Diversity, San Sebastian (December 2016) Asier Basurto Arruti, Kontseilua, Basque Country Haizpea Abrisketa, Kontseilua, Basque Country

Contact with PEN Centres about the meeting via e-mail: • Contributions and comments Basque PEN, Paul Bilbao Basque PEN, Urtzi Urrutikoetxea Basque PEN, Laura Mintegi Bolivia PEN, Biyú Suárez C. Chinese Independent PEN, Yu Zang Finnish PEN, Marianne Bargum Finnish PEN: Tiina Lehtoranta Québécois PEN, Sherry Simon Québécois PEN, Émile Martel Suisse-Romand PEN, Glorice Weinstein • Organisation issues Nepalese PEN, Prakash A. Ray Québécois PEN, Denise Pelletier San Miquel de Allende PEN, Gustav Murin San Miquel de Allende PEN, Lucina Kathman • Unable to attend Swiss Italian and Reto-Romansh PEN, Franca Tiberto Tibetian PEN, Fnu Lokdun • Interest in future collaboration Australian PEN Carol Dettmann Australian PEN, Dragana Zivancevic Croatian PEN, Tomica Bajsić Occitan PEN, Joan-Fréderic Brun Trieste PEN, Cecilia Prenz USA PEN, Michelle Franke Meyering

Organisation of the meeting, Catalan PEN: Carme Arenas, President of Catalan PEN Raffaella Salierno, General Secretary of Catalan PEN Carlota Sas, Secretary of Catalan PEN

Esther Belvis, Coordinator TLRC Raquel Abad, Press manager, Catalan PEN

Staff: Nicky Armstrong Maria Bosom Sara Serrano Valenzuela Catalina Girona Andríi Antonovskyi

Simona Škrabec chaired the meeting and Esther Belvis, Maria Bosom and Nicky Armstrong acted as secretaries, as appointed by the participants.

Next the points to be discussed, transcribed below, are addressed. These form the

MEETING AGENDA

Wednesday 22 nd April

10:00 Opening of the Assembly.

11:45 -13:30 Roundtable Discussion on ‘Written Word and Orality’. Speakers: Marjan Strojan (Slovene PEN), Petra Elsner (Basque PEN), Dave Pearson (SIL International). Chaired by Simona Škrabec.

11:30-11:45 Presentation of “Summit on European Language Diversity” by Asier Basurto I Haizpea Abrisketa.

15:30-17.00 Roundtable Discussion on ‘Literature and commercialisation’. Speakers: Bei Ling Huang (Chinese Independent PEN), José Enrique Muratti (Porto Rican PEN). Chaired by Bel Olid (CEATL).

Thursday 23 rd April

9:30-10:15 Reports from the centres and other issues. 10:15-10:30 Presentation of Literature across Frontiers by Alexandra Büchler. 11:00-13:00 Debate about the Declaration of Québec . Chaired by Louis Jolicoeur.

All the sessions took place in Barcelona, at Ateneu Barcelonés, 5 th floor, in the room “Aula dels Escriptors”. 3

WEDNESDAY 22 nd APRIL, 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

The Committee’s president, SIMONA ŠKRABEC, welcomed the attendants.

CARLES TORNER informed that PEN International is to have a new office in London. Although this has been a difficult financial year, it is expected that the renewal of SIDA funds will soon guarantee more stability to the organisation and will help to expand and promote the PEN mission in Africa and Latin America.

In the case of Africa, a major participation of the Centres in this continent is expected. PEN International is currently running Education and Civil Society programmes there. One of the strengths of the work being developed is that choices are made from the ground i.e. the centres decide the topic they want to work on. For the last 2-3 years, centres have been focusing on School Education (literary education, advocacy and freedom of expression, etc.). These projects have clear links with the work of the TLRC. In this regard, a new dynamic with and within the African Centres has been created including the creation of new centres. This year the Eritrea writers in Exile was created and it is expected that at least two more centres can be welcomed at the Congress in Québec, the Mauritanian centre and the Mali centre.

The PAN-African meeting that was planned before summer 2015 was not possible to organise due to the financial situation of PEN International. The former agreement with SIDA ended in December 2014 and new funds are not available as of yet. That is why this year the meeting of TLCR is taking place in Barcelona and not in Africa, coinciding with the Pan- African meeting, as agreed by the Board at the congress in Bishkek. For PEN International it is a priority that the TLRC meeting is held somewhere outside Europe in order to have more participation from the Latin American and Africa centres. It was expected that the South African PEN Centre would organise this years meeting although it did not happen. CARLES TORNER thanked the Catalan PEN for the organisation of this meeting with such short notice and for their financial support to make it possible.

The summit of the Americas was very successful. It will guide the actions of International PEN in the forthcoming years. The programme for this region refers also to the indigenous languages. Some centres such as the Canadian centre are already working in this respect. On the other hand, the Bishkek congress also helped to promote the visibility of the Asian centres.

PEN International is currently undertaking a research project funded by UNESO that is taking place in Kenya, Nigeria, Haiti and Serbia. This research project is designed to promote minority languages in the publishing industries of these four countries. Besides the research, there is also the creation of a network with the local publishers.

One of the new strategies that PEN is going to undertake is to propose a three-year campaign addressing a specific issue. This would help to position PEN internationally. At the Amsterdam conference, we will have the chance to explore topics for this big campaign. In

this regard, the TLRC could be the umbrella for that campaign. This would give the organization a clear strand of work for the forthcoming years.

TAKEAKI HORI informed about the importance of the elections that will take place in Québec, where the new President will be elected. Two board members will be also replaced. Regarding the President, he expressed his satisfaction for having been able to work with John Ralston Saul during the last seven years. He has been a good president with excellent diplomatic skills. The new, yet to be elected, president has to be someone that understands the mission of PEN and promotes solidarity between the centres.

All the centres can propose candidates. Elisabeth Norgreen, who is responsible for the Search Committee, is looking for candidates to present. PEN International encourages the centres to propose candidates for the presidency, make alliances, and try to promote them. Until now, there has never had a woman as president; this would be a good time for that if a suitable candidate is found.

CARLES TORNER added that other possible funders, like international NGOs such as Human Watch, etc are considering PEN International. There is a need to make visible the features that show the potential of PEN. PEN is a well-rooted organisation with 150 centres all over the world. In addition, the accent on linguistic rights makes PEN very different from any other organisation. In this regard, PEN are covering issues that other organisations are not addressing.

SIMONA ŠKRABEC reported that the database of the centres participating in this Committee has been updated. The number of responses was satisfactory, but the Committee still has problems communicating with centres. It is crucial that the centres communicate to the Chair any changes to the contact persons responsible for the activities in this Committee. There was, unfortunately, some problems in the communication with the San Miquel de Allende PEN Centre which have now been satisfactorily resolved.

The Committee chair received a letter from the Nepal PEN regretting that the meeting is again organised in Barcelona. Nepal PEN proposed themselves as a hosting centre for the future. (The letter from Prakash A. Raj reached PEN before the earthquake that happened just after the Barcelona meeting. PEN would like to express here solidarity with the Nepalese people.) Other centres that showed interest in a closer collaboration for the future and were unable to attend this meeting were Australian PEN (Carol Dettman, Dragana Zivancevic), Bolivia PEN (Biyú Suárez), Croatian PEN (Tomica Bajsić), Finish PEN (Marianne Bargum, Tiina Lehoranta), Trieste PEN (Cecilia Prenz) and USA PEN (Franke Mayering).

At the last moment, Franca Tiberto from Swiss Italian and Reto-Romansh PEN had to cancel her participation due to personal reasons. Fnu Lokdun from Tibet PEN was not able to come to Barcelona because he did not obtain his visa in time. He sent a letter explaining the current situation in Tibet, which will be posted on the webzine Visat.

One of the challenges of the TLRC is to become stable and be able to develop a long-term collaboration. In that sense, the Chair reported about the activities that the centres are carrying out, for example for the International Mother Language Day and for the Translator’s Day. In this sense, the Chair thanked the Bolivia PEN for having sent a letter to the Committee informing them about their activities.

On the other hand, it was noted that a better collaboration with the London office is necessary in the advocacy on linguistic rights. This aspect should become much more visible in the international scenario. We could think about a general training on how to conduct advocacy on linguistic rights by our Centres and at international level. At the Centre level, this could be through the practical application of the Girona Manifesto. In each country, a strategic advocacy could be developed with the relevant governmental bodies with the purpose of improving those rights. The UNESCO project (Kenya, Nigeria, Haiti and Serbia), along with the Commonwealth Project with six of the African Centres, should provide a template in that sense. After these two big projects are completed, there will be a better guidance on how to promote advocacy on linguistic rights.

Advocacy work should be coordinated with the campaigns PEN International is already carrying out. PEN could work closer with the Writers in Prison Committee and know more about the cases of imprisoned writers that are also related with the Linguistic Rights issues.

At the Bishkek congress, some members approached the Chair with proposals like anthologies, cross border collaboration in literary magazines, collaboration in literary prizes and festivals. For example, the translation of poetry works between nations in conflict (such as China and Uygur, proposed by Yang Lian) and an Anthology of Caribbean Literature (proposed by José E. Muratti).

For these kinds of projects, PEN should establish something like a ‘wish list’ where initiatives can be written down. Many of them will probably be unworkable for different reasons, but it would still be useful to know who is proposing what and they could be reviewed at PEN’s annual meeting.

After the Congress in Kirgizstan, JEAN-FRÉDERIC BRUN from Occitan PEN wrote a letter to the Committee with some basic information about the Ostana festival that will take place from May 30 th to June 2 nd 2015 in the Italian Occitania (high valley of Po), dedicated to writers in minority cultures. The festival has the support of the region of Piemonte and Occitan PEN is one of the organisers. The director of the festival, Ines Cavalcanti, would like that this event and the “Prèmi Ostana” became part of the activities of PEN International and in particular of TLRC, but for now there is not a specific proposal on how to do so.

In that sense, it is important to keep in mind that any projects proposed to be included as part of the activities of this Committee, should be properly articulated: PEN have to know who would organise them, what is the goal and the content of the event or publication. It should be noted that unfortunately the Committee does not have any funds available for such activities and consequently any such projects need to be financially supported by other agents.

A good example on how to involve the Committee in larger projects are the two initiatives presented at this Meeting: the Quebec Declaration about Translation, led by Québécois PEN, and the Summit on European Language Diversity, presented by Basque PEN.

The whole project of Declaration of Québec should be discussed in more detail here. First, the experience with the translation of Girona Declaration must be mentioned because it was discovered that some of the translations where of poor quality. PEN International received complaints by mail about the Dutch translation and the Slovene translation had to be replaced in full. PEN must control the translations much more closely. It cannot happen that somebody (like Marjan Strojan), who attended all our meetings, cannot have any influence over the translation of a manifesto into his own language.

PEN should establish a procedure for the translations of the Declaration of Quebec to be approved by our centres. It makes no sense to have translations into many languages if we do not know and cannot make sure that the translations are correct. The Slovenian translation was in some parts completely obscure, and even full of orthographical errors. Regarding the remarks received by mail about the Dutch translation, the case seems similar. There is a reasonable belief that there could be more cases.

PEN expects that after this meeting of the Committee they will have the final French, English and Spanish version of the Declaration. We are also planning to organise the publication of articles related to this document, so that everybody will have the opportunity to express opinions and suggestions. The contributions will be published in a special issue of the webzine Visat of the Catalan PEN (issue 20, fall 2015). PEN will include all the articles written for the debates of this meeting and all the contributions received by mail in the form of articles. Finnish PEN prepared an article about language nests for Sami people, Suis-Romand PEN informed about the situation in their country, also the South-African PEN centre, China Independent PEN and Portuguese PEN. PEN also expects contributions from the Croatian PEN with the personal experience of the translator Tonko Marojević. Dragana Zivancevic from Australian PEN will write about endangered indigenous languages and language maintenance that require special attention in settler colonies like Australia. PEN encourages any other contribution.

The deadline for submission is September 1 st , 2015 and they can be written in English, French or Spanish.

CARLES TORNER proposed to visualise for a moment Visat’s website. He explained that the dissident PEN Swedish will be on the PEN International website and suggested that Visat should be linked too.

SIMONA ŠKRABEC considered that the website of PEN International should have more information, and have a better systematisation of the activities of the TLRC. This would facilitate sharing information about the activities at local level. On the web of International PEN links to websites like Diversity of Macedonian PEN (Katica Kulakova) and other similar initiatives could be included. In any case, the contributions published on Visat can be referred to. The intention is that all these articles are disseminated and belong to all centres. 7

CARLES TORNER explained that last year PEN International brought up the case of a school director of a Uyghur language school on the website. That means that we can propose issues about language that are linked with the mission of PEN, even if it is not about writers.

ALIX PARODI asked about the intention to invite editors also to the PEN debates.

SIMONA ŠKRABEC considered that it would be very interesting, but in that case, PEN would have to prepare clearly what kind of collaboration they are expecting from them. PEN is not an organisation dedicated to the defence of the professional status of translators, there are other organisations, like CEATL in Europe, invited to this meeting, that deal specifically with the professional working conditions of the translators. PEN should look at translation issues from a broader perspective, as an attitude towards the respect of other cultures.

CARLES TORNER informed that PEN International has undertaken some initiatives with the collaboration of editors. Penguin collaborates with PEN in Myanmar in the training of young translators, for example. And there is the UNESCO project that Simona Škrabec coordinates, which is specifically dedicated to collaboration with editors. The title of the project is “Developing the minority language creative writing industry in Kenya, Haiti, Serbia and Nigeria.”

WEDNESDAY 22 nd APRIL, 11:30 AM - 11:45 AM Summit on European Language Diversity San Sebastian, December 2016 Presentation of the project

HAIZPEA ABRISKETA: The project is to be developed under the title of San Sebastian 2016, European Capital of Culture. The main question is how culture can contribute to a better coexistence. This project started as an initiative undertaken by social entities and will involve international organisations and specialists. The main goal is to establish a Protocol for Ensuring Language Rights. The final text of the Protocol and the conclusions will be presented at an international meeting at the end of 2016.

The Organising committee, that met in San Sebastian on March 31 st 2015, is formed of KONTSEILUA (A platform that comprises associations which work for the promotion of the Basque language), LINGUAPAX International, CIEMEN, ELEN (European Language Equality Network), UNPO (Unrepresented Nations and People Organization) and PEN International.

The Protocol will be the fruit of a series of discussions by numerous work groups. It wants to be an instrument to bring together scientific perspectives, academic opinions and social viewpoints. Europe should be based on equality between language communities.

ASIER BASURTO: The Scientific Committee will work from the initial draft, agreeing on a skeleton structure for the Protocol. The Protocol will be based on the project's overall philosophy and values of peaceful coexistence, diversity and equality. The Scientific committee will present the first draft of the Protocol in October 2016 and the text will be approved in December 2016 at the “European Language Diversity Summit”. The basis of this project is The Declaration of Linguistic Rights (1996).

WEDNESDAY 22 nd APRIL, 11:45 AM - 13:30 AM Roundtable Discussion on ‘Written Word and Orality’.

Speakers: Marjan Strojan (Slovene PEN), Petra Elsner (Basque PEN), Dave Pearson (SIL International). Chaired by Simona Škrabec.

The discussion chair SIMONA ŠKRABEC invited the three speakers, MARJAN STROJAN, PETRA ELSNER and DAVE PARSON, to make their contributions. The presentations have also been made in written form and are available in Catalan PEN’s online magazine Visat :

MARJAN STROJAN, “A Case of Social Translation: Romani Literature in Slovenia” PETRA ELSNER, “Bertsolaritza and his historical and actual function in Basque Country” DAVE PEARSON, “The Written Word and Orality in Africa”

The debate began with some of the participants commenting about other examples of the oral tradition in Europe such as the Glossa signer on the island of Mallorca or the Guslar singer in the Balkans.

ALIX PARODI asked about the influence of publicity on the use of languages in Africa. DAVE PEARSON agreed that language development through publicity might help to raise the prestige and self-esteem, although some aspects of it can be criticised. If the language that is only used in oral expression is materialised on the billboards to promote some products, the speakers of that language feel proud of it and start to use it for other purposes, not just for daily communication.

WEDNESDAY 22 nd APRIL, 15:30 AM - 18:00 AM Roundtable Discussion on ‘Literature and commercialisation’.

Speakers: Bei Ling Huang (Chinese Independent PEN), José Enrique Muratti (Porto Rican PEN). Chaired by Bel Olid (CEATL).

The discussion chair BEL OLID invited the two speakers, BEI LING HUANG and JOSÉ ENRIQUE MURATTI to make their contributions. The presentations have also been made available in written form and are supplied on Catalan PEN’s online magazine Visat :

BEI LING HUANG, “The Farther from Motherland, the Closer to Mother Tongue” JOSÉ ENRIQUE MURATTI, “Translation of Barbaric Languages or the Demise of Literature”

BEL OLID opened the debate remembering that in some countries, as for example Turkey, translators are persecuted because of their translations. In Europe translators fight to be considered authors, but in some places it is better for them not to be considered authors in order to avoid legal problems. Nevertheless, this is against the idea of what CEATL are fighting for, which is the recognition of translators work.

BENTE CHRISTENSEN considered that governments should have policies to protect literature against the market rules. The good contracts that apply to authors/translators, as it happens in Norway, secure better labour conditions.

JOSÉ MURATTI added that many of us are unaware of the effect that it is having on us. We are constantly being steered to consume what the markets propose. PEN can help to raise awareness of these issues and try to influence the governmental bodies. It is important to keep on talking, to make noise, because it is the only way that these issues will not be forgotten.

TERESA CADETE considered that we complain all our lives, when perhaps instead of complaining, we should promote activities. Portugal PEN, for example, gives four prizes each year with no means. They negotiate with the government constantly. They also organise literary sessions in small bookshop to promote good literature and independent bookshops at the same time.

JOSÉ MURATTI replies that the Porto Rican PEN is very successful in organising activities to promote literature and the reading culture.

BEL OLID informed that there is an emergence of small publishing houses in Barcelona and that they secure better labour conditions.

BEI LING HANG explained the situation in China, which is complex. Only the publishing houses that are officially recognised can obtain the ISSN number. These publishers would never publish anything that would be against the official cultural politics. To be able to publish an independent publication, the nonofficial publishers are forced to buy the ISSN

number from one of the official publishing houses. That is the only way to avoid the possibility of persecution. In this sense, there is a flourishing market for the official publisher that can make money only by selling the ISSN number, without printing or trading any books. On the contrary, the independent publishers have to assume the financial risk and they are constantly being threatened by the possibility of a stronger censorship.

THURSDAY 23 rd APRIL, 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM Reports from the centres and other issues.

SIMONA ŠKRABEC welcomed those gathered at the PEN headquarters. After a short introduction to the day’s agenda she invited ALIX PARODI from the PEN Swiss Romand to take the floor and report on any current issues.

Giving a brief background on the linguistic situation in Switzerland, ALIX PARODI explained that there are four official languages in Switzerland (French, German, Italian and Romansh). Due to the strong economy of Germany the German language dominates. As such there are only 1million French speakers and 90,000 Romansh speakers.

Moving on to talk about translation ALIX PARODI added that there has been an important push to promote Swiss literature and translation as, firstly, it is important for them to know and understand their own literature. It has now become obligatory that at least one Swiss author is studied a year in school. There is also a new fight for authors to receive royalties from book rentals from libraries to help support the literary field and the translation of works.

Next, PARODI discussed the various minority languages found within the small towns and villages in the Swiss valleys. It is a priority for Switzerland to try to respect the minorities, however it has now become very difficult to support and maintain these languages. Funding and the current economic crisis are cited as keys problem. The government can no longer afford to pay the teachers to continue to teach in the minority languages, as such it is down to the parents to teach their children, or fund after school classes to keep the languages alive.

ALIX PARODI rounded up by expressing that it is now very difficult to hear French speakers in Geneva, implying that now more than ever it is important to support translation and the continued survival of all languages within the Swiss culture.

Simona invites TERESA CADETE from PEN Portugal to take the floor.

TERESA CADETE began by ensuring everybody had the open letter regarding the Portuguese language. She stressed from the outset her discontent with what has happened to the

orthography of the Portuguese language, confirming that almost all Portuguese PEN members are in agreement.

Discussing the open letter and the changes made to the Portuguese language after the 2008 Portuguese Language Spelling Agreement and the reductive action of Lince (a computer programme design by ILTEC, Institute of Theoretical and Computer Linguistics), TERESA CADETE argued that the changes made neither simplify nor unify, according to CADETE they destroy the European Portuguese. This problem has also created discontent among translators, as they are obliged to choose between one variant, Brazilian Portuguese, Angolan Portuguese and European Portuguese.

To clarify the changes that they want made it is purely so the differences in variants can be recognised. Citing Brazilian Portuguese as having less rules but clarifying that the centres argument is nothing against Brazil or Brazilians, on the contrary it is about the protection of variants within the Portuguese language.

Before concluding her turn an appeal to fellow PEN members to build a “Language in Prison” committee is made. CADETE appeals to members to write to governments from abroad to ask for change, pressuring governments to ask what is happening in their countries in order to protect minority languages and variants.

SIMONA ŠKRABEC invites BENTE CHRISTENSEN to take to the floor. Mentioning the articles that have been requested, CHRISTENSEN read a short extract from the PEN Finland centre on the concept of the language nest and the Sami language, which can be found in Norway, Sweden, Finland and parts of Northern Russia. Firstly CHRISTENSEN confirms that she is not here to represent PEN Finland but since they are not present it seems relevant that she should read the article extract.

The idea behind the language nest is that the traditional languages can be passed down through the generations. The problem is that languages are no longer transmitted to children. In response to this, the government has pursued the concept of the language nest where the teachers speak only in the Sami language giving children the opportunity to speak the Sami language from the outset. The most common reason for the failure of revitalisation is that it remains the pursuit of only a small group of activists, teachers, researchers, politicians and NGOs.

SIMONA ŠKRABEC makes a personal reflection that the scheme has been met with more problems in Russia, as they struggle to accept that their children would learn anything other than Russian.

CHRISTENSEN read an extract for the article summarising the three most important reasons for the language nest. Firstly, magazines, books and teaching materials, TV or language courses cannot save it like the language nest can. Secondly, it is believed that children are

capable of achieving proficiency in a language from an early. Thirdly, children speaking in their minority language are beneficial to the community as a whole. The children of the language nest or millennium babies will not see speaking in a minority language as a source of shame but rather as a positive thing.

SIMONA ŠKRABEC addressed the present members requesting that they also write a similar article about specific language issues in their countries, linguistic rights or specific programmes that can be published on the Visat website.

ŠKRABEC invites JOSÉ MURATTI to read the letter received from the Bolivian PEN centre.

The first proposal of the letter is that new communication channels are established between all the PEN centres so that there can be more of a constant flow of information. JOSÉ MURATTI continued with the letter explaining the various activities that the PEN Bolivian centre has been involved with, such as creative writing workshops for prisoners, literary contests for children and teenagers and working with blind people in Santa Cruz helping them to read and write. The letter expresses the strong belief that literature can create a new imaginary and leads to collective action, as well as giving the young an opportunity to express their realities.

SIMONA ŠKRABEC addressed the members by stating it would be nice to receive updates on the different PEN Centres activities, questioning if it would be possible to get a page on the PEN International website with short reports on the different centres activities. ŠKRABEC directed this second statement towards CARLES TORNER, representative from PEN International.

In response, CARLES TORNER expressed his concern that across the 150 different PEN centres many things are being done that they are not aware of. The next plan for the coming years is to appoint one of the London staff to be in charge of collecting information in an active way, waiting for the centres to send information does not happen in the majority of cases.

Representing the committee as a whole SIMONA ŠKRABEC made the request that on the PEN International website there can be a place where this information can be placed on line so that it can be read by all the PEN centres.

Moving on, the problem is raised about the lack of knowledge on the status of certain languages from the PEN Centres. JOSÉ MURATTI was asked about the state of the Aymara language in Bolivia, he explained that they are hoping to compile a report on the current situation. MURATTI suggested that a website could be built to specifically highlight the work that the different centres across Latin America are doing. This is perhaps a better alternative to one person handling this task from the London office.

SIMONA ŠKRABEC explains to the members that they have been in touch with PEN Australia to find out information about the Indigenous languages.

Simona invites BEI LING HUANG from Chinese Independent PEN to take the floor, to speak specifically about the political situation in China at the moment.

LING HUANG took advantage of the situation to talk about the current political situation in Tibet specifically. It is now difficult for the language to survive as during the Cultural Revolution a whole generation lost the ability to read and write in Tibetan and as a consequence they can only speak the language, citing the Dalai Lama as an example. Many Tibetan authors write and publish in Chinese only. The lack of quality translation, or no translation at all, of world literature means the language has to fight for its survival. LING HUANG urged that this is why it is vital that the younger generation read and write in Tibetan.

In his contribution, BEI LING HUANG discussed the problem of free publishing in China. To publish a book you need the ISSN number. To obtain this number all literature must go through the official publishing house where 90% of China’s books are published. All literature is then censored. The only way to publish a book without going through the censorship channels is to purchase a number from the publishing house. BEI LING HUANG argued that this is perhaps still a better system as without it nothing uncensored could be published. The only way to get literature read without the number is for it to exchange hands in small circles. This does not generate money for the author.

The Government has taken a new decision that every magazine online has to use the real name, ID and address. This means that the government is controlling everything, limiting freedom. If you write anything political online or on an unregistered site you are imprisoned. The Internet has given more writers the freedom of expression but has also led to more and more writers being imprisoned.

Next ANDRE MARSHALL, PEN South Africa, is welcomed to take the floor.

South Africa has 11 official languages. The constitution guarantees the protection of all 11 languages. In practice it has proven difficult to give all the languages equal status, this is partly because English has become what is seen as a prestigious language. Most students that are studying African language are white students. The black students do not see it as necessary.

Speaking on minority languages ANDRE MARSHALL gave us a background into the language of the San, now extinct. There were about 13 San languages all distinguished by the use of the click sound making it very difficult for them all to be documented. Despite this, one of the first translations to be done was from San.

MARSHALL gave a specific mention to PRAESA and the Nal’ibali project – a project that promotes the love of reading amongst the youth. It is not as extensive as the language nest, but through the project reading clubs have been formed where stories are translated from English into five indigenous languages and vice versa. PRAESA won the 2015 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. MARSHALL reads an extract from the jury’s decision to offer the award to PRAESA.

The project has opened new roots into literature for young South African readers through story telling projects. It brings literature in multiple languages to life. Stories and books are crucial in enriching our lives and this is also happening through the translation of these books into multiple languages.

On a negative note, MARSHALL explains to the members that the SABC (the national broadcaster) currently broadcasts in English, Afrikaans and all the 11 official languages. However, this is due to change. PEN South Africa and PEN Afrikaans have issued a statement strongly opposing the cancellation of additional news bulletins in other indigenous languages. The decision shows a lack of commitment from the national broadcaster on multilingualism and linguistic rights. They quote the Girona Manifesto on linguistic rights in their statement.

THURSDAY 23 rd APRIL, 10:15 AM - 10:30 AM Presentation of Literature across Frontiers by Alexandra Büchler.

Session recommences with ALEXANDRA BÜCHLER, the director of Literature Across Frontiers. Members of Culture Action Europe and Civil Society platform for Multilingualism.

Through the website Alexander explained the range of activities Literature Across Frontiers does. Based in Aberystwyth University, the main mission is to promote literature, and provide a platform for literacy exchange, translation and literacy policy debate. This is done through working with institutions, writers, book fairs and publishers, for example.

It is important to monitor what is happening in public policy and also to monitor the policies of private foundations. The monitoring of translation flows and policies of support for translation are published in reports by LAF. This is done by surveying the amount of translation works done across Europe as well as further a field in Asia and the Middle East for example.

There is concern that many foundations talk about creative industries. The concern is that they will be pushed into the commercial area, an issue that needs continued debate. For example to receive funding projects must present a business plan, this can present

problems. The European Commission through its creative Europe programme is now supporting very big flagship companies rather than NGO’s. Through the monitoring of these developments they can comment on them and analyse them.

ALEXANDRA BÜCHLER moved on to talk about the latest report discussing translation from various languages into English. Many countries have statistics on published translations; the UK is apart from this.

Session ends for a coffee break.

THURSDAY 23 rd APRIL, 11:00 AM - 13:00 AM

Debate about the Declaration of Québec Chaired by Louis Jolicoeur

The debate about the final version of the Declaration of Québec was constructive and intense. The justification of the changes accorded has been resumed in the following text, written by Louis Jolicoeur. This explanation, together with the final version of the Declaration in French, English and Spanish will be sent to all PEN Centres.

LOUIS JOLICOEUR exposes some clarifications regarding the latest version of the Quebec Declaration:

At the suggestion of the members of the CTDL, who met in Barcelona from April 21 st to 23 rd , 2015, the text was made simpler, less repetitive, and more effective.

As suggested, the following documents were consulted: the Berne Convention on the protection of literary and artistic work, the universal Copyright Convention, and the Recommendation on legal protection for translators and translation. These documents are interesting but too long, too general, and somewhat ineffective. In addition, they have no PEN perspective. The PEN declaration remains pertinent, but the mention of these documents would be useful and they have been integrated into the preface to the declaration.

As suggested in the discussions, the declaration is now focused on LITERARY translation.

As for feminisation, also mentioned in the discussions, the French version is now entirely feminised, in the most economical way possible—using pronouns for instance.

The former point three has disappeared. The universal aspect of translation raised philosophical issues for some. The idea of incomplete languages was also problematic. What was important was to see translation not as a necessary evil but as a way of going forward in

the exploration of a text and this is now integrated into the new point three in the idea of moving a text forward. The idea of the universal, despite the reservations of some, was integrated into point one, where it is less presumptuous. In English it is to be noted that the translation refers only to the «World». The idea of respect for the authors and of the original texts was also added.

As for the title, it is written so that if desired the elements of ‘literary’ or the feminisation could be abandoned if necessary, leaving only the Quebec Declaration on translation— depending on its reception in various countries.

The order of the points was changed as proposed to distinguish between the points that are related to translation and then to the translators. The first 2 concern translation, the four others translators.

With no further issues to address, the Chair SIMONA ŠKRABEC, and the president of the Catalan PEN, CARME ARENAS, addressed some words of thanks and farewell to the participants. The meeting in Barcelona is declared as closed, it being 1 pm on 23 rd April 2015. Thus, the preparation of these minutes is ordered, which will be submitted for members’ approval in the statutory planned form.

Barcelona, 23rd April 2015

Simona Škrabec, Chair of TLRC