85Th PEN International Congress Manila, Philippines
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85 th PEN International Congress Manila, Philippines Election Papers The positions up for election this year are as follows: International Secretary (2 candidates for 1 position) 1. Kätlin Kaldmaa (Estonian PEN), nominated by PEN Melbourne, PEN Estonia, PEN Myanmar and PEN Latvia 2. Simona Škrabec (Slovenian PEN), nominated by PEN Quebec, PEN Tibet and Catalan PEN Members of the Board at Large (6 candidates for 4 positions) 1. Danson Khayana (PEN Uganda), nominated by PEN Malawi and PEN Nigeria 2. David Francis (PEN America), nominated by PEN Belarus and Perth PEN 3. Phina So (PEN Cambodia), nominated by PEN Nepal and PEN Melbourne 4. Regula Venske (PEN Germany), nominated by PEN Nigeria and PEN Sydney 5. Thida Ma (PEN Myanmar), nominated by PEN America and PEN Japan 6. Tomica Basijc (Croatian PEN) , nominated by PEN Sydney and PEN Ukraine Chairperson of the Writers for Peace Committee (1 candidate for 1 position) 1. Emmanuel Pierrat (French P.E.N. Club), nominated by PEN Slovenia, PEN Mali and PEN Turkey Members of the Search Committee (1 candidate for 1 positions): 1. Dessale Berekhet Abraham (PEN Eritrea in Exile ), nominated by PEN Uganda and PEN Eritrea in Exile International Vice President 1. Elena Poniatowska, nominated by PEN Nicaragua and PEN Paraguay 2. Luisa Valenzuela, nominated by Catalan PEN, PEN San Miguel and PEN Argentina President / Président / Presidente Executive Director / Directeur Exécutif / Vice Presidents / Vice-présidents / The Board / Le Comité Exécutif / International PEN is trading as Jennifer Clement Director ejecutivo Vicepresidentes El Consejo PEN International. Carles Torner Margaret Atwood, Niels Barford, President / Président / Presidente International PEN is a company International Secretary / Secrétaire Andrei Bitov, Alexandre Blokh, International Secretary / Secrétaire registered in England and Wales International / Secretario Internacional Presidents Emeritus / Présidents J.M. Coetzee, Lucina Kathmann, Kata International / Secretario Internacional with registration number 05683997. Kätlin Kaldmaa Emérites / Presidentes Eméritos Kulavkova, Eric Lax, Joanne Leedom- Treasurer / Trésorier / Tesorero International PEN is a registered Homero Aridjis, Ronald Harwood CBE, Ackerman, Toni Morrison, Boris A. Iman Humaydan, Ma Thida Sanchaung, charity in England and Wales Treasurer / Trésorier / Tesorero György Konrád, John Ralston Saul, Novak, Vida Ognjenovi ć, Michael Mohammed Sheriff, Regula Venske, with registration number 1117088. Jarkko Tontti Per Wästberg Scammell, Eugene Schoulgin, Hori Burhan Sönmez, Ola Larsmo International PEN’s registered office Takeaki, Franca Tiberto, Ngugi Wa is Koops Mill, 162-164 Abbey Street, Thiong’o, Perumal Murugan, Nayantara London SE1 2AN Sahgal Candidates for the International Secretary position 1. Kätlin Kaldmaa (Estonian PEN), nominated by PEN Melbourne, PEN Myanmar, PEN Latvia and PEN Estonia Statement of intent Hereby I, Kätlin Kaldmaa, accept the challenge to be nominated for the International Secretary of PEN International at the 85th PEN Congress in Manila, Philippines. Please find attached the nominations by Latvian PEN, PEN Myanmar and PEN Estonia as well as the statement of intent and my personal bio- bibliography. After serving as an International Secretary for three years, it has become evident that our daily work – writing to explain the world, writing to be part of the world, writing to change the world – continues to be under enormous pressure. The attempts to silence writers and journalists have become more commonplace than ever, and the efforts to censor freedom of expression have reached new peaks, the rise of far-right groups being one of the reasons behind this. Hate in all its forms has become the constant companion of free word. As per our Charter, PEN International will continue working against all and every manifestation of hate speech, increasing our efforts by continuous campaigning, targeting press, governments and NGOs. Fighting for the rehabilitation of unlawfully imprisoned writers remains a central goal in PEN’s agenda. Offering safe havens to writers in danger, through the cooperation with ICORN continues, as an increasing number of writers are forced to leave their home countries and seek refuge elsewhere. PEN centres are working on the home front to establish possibilities for receiving writers fleeing political repression and connecting them to local literary circles. Also, the seeming equality we tend to be so proud of crumbles under scrutiny: refugee, ethnic minority and women writers need more possibilities for publishing and literary promotion. In order to reach diverse local communities, PEN centres should engage a wider circle of audience as readers. According to PEN International new strategic plan, we will work hard on bringing along equal representation – standing up for women writers in cooperation with UNESCO, helping more languages to become languages of literature and tackle the issues our membership is facing, region by region. On the verge of the centenary of PEN International, I am ready to continue as an International Secretary and take the organisation into the next century. Kätlin Kaldmaa PEN Estonia Biography Kätlin Kaldmaa is an Estonian poet, writer, translator and literary critic. She has published four collections of poetry, “Larii-laree” (1996), “One is None” (2008), “Worlds, Unseen” (2009) and “The Alphabet of Love” (2012); three books for children, “Four Children and Murka” (2010), “The Story of Somebody Nobody’s daughter’s Father” (2012) and “It’s Damn Good to be a Bad Girl“ (2016); two autobiographical works of non-fiction, “Happiness is the Matter of Choice” (2013)and „Two Love Stories“ (2017), short story collections, “The Little Sharp Knife”(2014) and “Taming the Wolf“ (2019); and a novel “No Butterflies in Iceland” (2013). Collections of her poems have been published in English, “One is None” (2014); Arabic “Geography of Love” (2015); Finnish, “The Alphabet of Love” (2015) and Spanish “Geografía del amor“ (2018). Her novel has been published in Hungarian and Finnish; children’s books in Icelandic and Latvian, and translations are forthcoming in several more languages including Slovenian, Catalan, Croatian, Ukrainian, Italian etc. Kätlin Kaldmaa is a member of the Estonian Writers‘ Union, IBBY Estonia and PEN Estonia. She has been on the board of all those three organisations and is currently the President of PEN Estonia. In addition to writing, she has organised a number of literary events, seminars and conferences; the three 2 most important of them a one-year long seminar (practical as well as theoretical) of literary translation; a “Banned Books“ event series for young readers; and 40 events in the series of PEN Literary Café dedicated to translated literature. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the book series PEN Library and of the publishing house Hunt. She is also teaching Creative Writing and Creative Performance at Space Harbour University in Barcelona. She has written widely on literature, mostly literature in translation, and has translated more than 80 works of world’s best literature from British Isles to Latin America. Amongst translated authors, there are Jeanette Winterson, Aphra Behn, Michael Ondaatje, James Meek, Ali Smith, Meg Rosoff, Madeleine Thien, Goran Simić, Karen Connelly and Gabriel García Márquez. Her own work has been translated into more than 30 languages and she has taken part of more than 30 literature festivals and events all over the world. Her books have been nominated to many awards and in 2012 she won the annual Friedebert Tuglas short story award. Kätlin Kaldmaa is the President of Estonian PEN. She is currently working on a trilogy of novels. 2. Simona Škrabec (Slovenian PEN), nominated by PEN Quebec, PEN Tibet and Catalan PEN Statement of intent Dear friends, I write to confirm my intention to put myself forward for the position of PEN International Secretary, if my candidacy, supported by PEN Quebec, PEN Tibet and Catalan PEN, is accepted. I began working with PEN International in 2014, as Chair of the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee. The members of this very Assembly voted in 2017 to renew my appointment for a second term, which is due to end in 2020. I should like to explain why I have taken the rather bold step of standing as a candidate in the elections for International Secretary before my mandate with the Committee ends: We live in decisive times, not only because we are approaching the centenary of our own organisation, but also, and particularly, because tensions in the world are rising, conflicts are becoming more widespread, and there is a need to create a new discourse and identify new approaches in every available forum in order to tackle these exacting challenges. I believe I have the ability to strengthen our organisation and work with all of you in order to ensure that our voice is heard in these turbulent times. I should like to help create greater internal cohesion at PEN International and ensure that the Committees are not close, impenetrable spaces but instead become more used to sharing initiatives, helping one another and collaborating. Even more importantly, I promise that, if I am elected, PEN’s positioning will also change in other areas. Without interrupting any of the work we are already doing, I would apply all my know-how and energies to ensure that we are more aware of the importance of linguistic rights. I also undertake to ensure that our organisation becomes more committed than ever to promoting the circulation of literary works throughout the international arena. If we mutually translate, we realise that we are equal among equals, capable of entering into valuable exchanges, thus challenging all our innate prejudices. I have decided to put myself forward for the position of International Secretary because I am a visionary, I know how to dream and I follow those dreams. I strive until I have succeeded in achieving everything I believe in. I should like to apply my knowledge and commit myself entirely to help transform and enhance PEN International. Simona Škrabec Biography I began working with PEN International in 2014, as Chair of the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee.