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. I sincerely believe that my five years’ work at the head of the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee have left a positive mark. During my time in office, the Committee has held meetings on four continents, Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, and we have worked on the drafting of important texts such as The Quebec Declaration on Literary Translation (2015), the report for UNESCO entitled Culture’s Oxygen (2016) and the Donostia Protocol to Ensure Linguistic Rights (2016). Among the Committee’s most important achievements, I would also mention that we have begun to give a voice to literature written in indigenous languages, embracing this subject with respect and genuine interest.

I was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia. I live in Barcelona since 1992, where I obtained a PhD in literary theory in 2002. I am professor at Open University of Catalonia (UOC) in Barcelona. I contributes essays and articles about literature in academic journals and I am a regular literary critic with various Barcelona based newspapers. I am the author of the books L’estirp de la solitud (2003), L’atzar de la lluita (2005), Patria prestada (2017) and Torno del bosc amb les mans tenyides (2019).

I have translated more than thirty books. In the field of translation, I also participated in the research, To be translated or not to be (2007), directed by Esther Allen. With Arnau Pons, I directed a project about cultural exchange between Germany and Catalonia ( Grenzen sind Straßen , 2007-2008, 2 vol). I had also acted as organizer of several cultural events and symposia, as a result of which she has edited the books Diàlegs sense fronteres (2011) and Les distàncies d’Europa (2013).

My own life experiences perhaps represent some of my most valuable assets. At the age of twenty, I went to Barcelona for the first time and at that time could not distinguish between Catalan and Spanish. I was just a young foreigner in an unknown country. Now I write books, translate and give conferences and classes in both Catalan and Spanish. I feel at home in this complex and fascinating city that is Barcelona.

Indeed, linguistic rights are collective rights. Through the language that they use, people find a way to define not only their own personal identity but also the way in which they form part of society. The speakers of a particular language also have the right to be acknowledged from the outside as a linguistic community that has the capacity to make exchanges with other cultures around the world.

Translation is not just the task of well-paid editors and agents; we translators are also able to weave very effective collaborative networks. The translation allows us to turn a critical eye on ourselves. Comparing ourselves with others, learning to be stronger, more tenacious, but also more self-critical. Difference is not an obstacle, but rather a gateway to knowledge.

Candidates for the Board at Large

1. Danson Khayana (PEN Uganda), nominated by PEN Malawi and PEN Nigeria

Statement of intent

I, Dr Danson Kahyana, hereby accept the nomination to the candidacy of the position, Board Member, PEN International.

To the PEN Board, I hope to bring experiences from my corner of the world, Africa, to stimulate and enrich debates with other Board members and the PEN International fraternity on what this prestigious organization needs to do in order to consolidate the work it has done, and is still doing, all over the world. There are five inter-related areas I will pay special attention to:

4

a) Promoting literature, particularly in countries still struggling with high illiteracy rates, and in those where some individuals in power maliciously demonize creative writing as a useless craft that contributes nothing to humanity; b) Galvanizing interactions among writers from different parts of the world as they share their experiences and work towards common goals; c) Continuing the fight against threats to freedom of expression in an era where even previously solid democracies that defended freedom of expression are themselves becoming, tragically, threats to free speech; d) Monitoring different ways through which regimes are throttling online spaces, and working together as a community of writers to design ways of fighting this; e) Creating more opportunities of solidarity with persecuted and displaced/exiled writers.

Danson Sylvester Kahyana (PhD) President, Ugandan PEN

Biography

Danson Sylvester Kahyana (PhD) is the President, Ugandan PEN, and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Literature, Makerere University. He has been a PEN member since 2001, the year Ugandan PEN was welcomed into the PEN Family.

As Personal Assistant to the inaugural Ugandan PEN President, Professor Timothy Wangusa, Danson was central to the establishment of 12 PEN School Clubs in the country as well as organizing creative writing workshops and competitions in these clubs, and publishing The Ugandan PEN newsletter. As General Secretary in Ugandan PEN ,between 2008 and 2014, Danson helped increase the PEN school clubs to 22. In 2014, when he was elected President of Ugandan PEN, Danson worked closely with PEN International to implement three projects (creative writing in Uganda’s maximum prison, Luzira; Writing for Human Rights in selected secondary schools, and campaigning for the repeal of criminal defamation in Uganda and other African countries).

At the moment, he is leading his team at Ugandan PEN to run creative writing workshops in another Ugandan maximum prison, Jinja, as well as setting up a space where exiled writers in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, can meet to write as well as interact with Ugandans through giving public readings and lectures in selected schools and universities.

As a freedom of expression defender, Danson has edited and published Fire on the Mountain: Creative Work on the Obuhikira (2018), which highlights the crimes committed by the Ugandan state against its own people in November 2016 when President Yoweri Museveni (in power since 1986) bombed a palace belonging to one of the Kings, consequently killing more than 200 people. He has also co-edited (with Beatrice Lamwaka and Bob G. Kisiki) As I Stood Dead Before the World: Creative Writing from Luzira (2018) – one of the fruits from the Luzira project already mentioned.

2. David Francis (PEN America), nominated by PEN Belarus and Perth PEN

Statement of intent

I believe, as we at PEN must believe, that free expression is the lifeblood of every human right. In this era when measures to silence and intimidate surface on almost every continent, I am eager to serve in furtherance of PEN’s international mission in literature and in translation and linguistic rights, as well as for our Women’s and Peace Committees.

Having worked for more than 30 years for international law firms, having lived in various countries as a lawyer, novelist and activist, I trust that my world view, together with my positions with PEN Center USA and now PEN America, imbue me with an ideal training to serve on the PEN International Board.

As a writer, I appreciate the singular lives we lead. As a lawyer, I understand the complex legal challenges we face. And as a board member of PEN Center USA who was intimately involved in the merging of the two U.S. centers, I have dealt with many of the organizational and financial challenges particular to PEN. I am committed to be of greater service to PEN International on behalf of writers and freedom of expression everywhere.

Biography

David Francis was born and educated in Australia and lives in Los Angeles, where he served for many years as a member of the board and Vice-President of PEN Center USA. He was closely involved with the merger of the PEN centers in the U.S. and is now Co-chair of Pen America’s Los Angeles Committee.

He is the author of four novels including The Great Inland Sea , published to acclaim in seven countries and Stray Dog Winter , Book of the Year in The Advocate, winner of the American Library Association Barbara Gittings Prize for Literature and a LAMBDA Literary Award Finalist.

He has taught creative writing at the University of California, Los Angeles, Occidental College and in the Master of Professional Writing program at University of Southern California.

His short fiction and articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Harvard Review , The Sydney Morning Herald , Southern California Review , Best Australian Stories 2012 and 2014 , and the Los Angeles Times . He has been awarded a number of literary residencies and fellowships, including to the Keesing Studio at the Cité International des Arts in Paris and Hawthornden Castle in Scotland.

A lawyer as well as a writer, David works for the London-based international Norton Rose Fulbright law firm and spends part of each year back on his family’s farm in Australia. He has been a delegate to previous PEN Congresses and is a member of the PEN International Lawyers Committee.

3. Phina So (PEN Cambodia), nominated by PEN Nepal and PEN Melbourne

Statement of intent

To Whom It May Concern,

This letter is to certify that I, Phina So, agree to be nominated by PEN Nepal and PEN Melbourne to stand for the election for a board member of PEN International. I would like to see PEN Cambodia more active. The literary sector is now a growing scene in Cambodia. Reading and writing are increasing. Also, more literary events are happening although at its beginning stages. The biggest challenge is freedom of expression.

Freedom of expression is a dangerous issue in Cambodia. Many journalists, political commentators, and government critics are arrested, jailed, and even murdered. These situations cause many writers to self- censor. This problem cannot be solved in a near future. It takes time. Writers need to find an alternative tool to express their experience living in this society. With the dangerous environment for the freedom of expression, writers need opportunity to explore their existing talents, regional and international exchanges. Provided these opportunities, not only they could improve their writing skills but to realise the supportive mechanism of PEN Centers around the regions.

During this term, I will work alongside with PEN Cambodia and other PEN Centers around the region to bring more collaborations through exchanges, translations, creative writing, and foster Cambodian writers’ existing talents on using metaphor as a tool to safely express themselves.

Phnom Penh, Phina So Writer and literary activist

6

Biography

Phina is a writer and poet. She is a co-founder of Slap Paka Khmer, an informal writers collective which mission is to provide opportunity and platform for writers to express their literary creativity, co- founder of Kampu Mera editions – through which she and her peers have published three anthologies of short stories (predominantly by women writers), and in 2017 she founded the Khmer Literature Festival. The festival will see its third edition in 2019, after the 2018 program doubled in size and scope versus the first year. In a long term, Phina wishes to see literary festival at every province and town. In addition, she is committed to a few writing projects and working on a bilingual contemporary poetry project.

So Phina is also the Manager of the Knowledge Networks and Policy Program at Cambodian Living Arts. Within the program, she runs the Living Arts Fellows program, a cultural leadership program for Cambodian artists, managers, researchers and policymakers with a strong component on developing knowledge and networks within South East Asia. Within the KNP program, Phina also curates and facilitates talks, seminars and conferences, manages mobility grants for cultural practitioners and works on collaborations with local and international academic partners.

Prior to working at CLA, Phina was a Research Associate at CDRI (Cambodia Development Resource Institute) a policy think tank, where she specialized in education. She trained as a social worker, completing her Master’s degree in Social Work at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Melbourne, Australia. She also has a bachelor degree in Psychology from the Royal University of Phnom Penh.

4. Regula Venske (PEN Germany), nominated by PEN Nigeria and PEN Sydney

Statement of intent

I herewith state that I am willing to serve a second term as member of the board. Supporting centers are PEN Nigeria and PEN Sidney.

In PEN, I have been engaged in numerous writers-in-prison/writers-at-risk activities as well as the writers-in-exile program by which German PEN offers shelter for up to 8 writers in 5 German cities. Other areas of activities have been surveillance, authors´ rights, women writers, hate speech and the rise of far-right movements in Germany and elsewhere.

Both as general secretary as well as president of German PEN, establishing and keeping good contacts with PEN centers all over the world has been of utmost importance to me. In the past year, I attended a conference organized by Czech PEN in Prague, participated in a panel discussion on “Freedom and Security” hosted by Ukrainian PEN in Kyiv, and represented PEN at a panel in Marrakesh when the UN- Global Compact on Migration was signed in December.

Having helped to set up contacts with the three major German political foundations under John Ralston Saul´s presidency, I am happy to have successfully invited two more German publishers to join the Publishers Circle. I want to continue with this commitment.

Regula Venske

Biography

Born June 12, 1955, in Minden, Westfalia (West Germany), Regula Venske is a scholar of literature and a writer of novels, short stories, essays and experimental prose. Although she is most renowned for her (somewhat satirical) crime stories, now and then she will throw in a love-poem, too. She has also hosted numerous reading events with renowned international writers and has accompanied them on their reading tours in German-speaking countries.

In her literary studies, she did her research on ‘forgotten’ and underestimated women writers of the past, such as the 19th century Jewish-Prussian writer and women´s rights promoter Fanny Lewald, or 20th century writers such as Hilde Domin, Marlen Haushofer, and Johanna Moosdorf; and published her thesis on the “Construction and Criticism of Masculinity in Contemporary German-language Literature by Women” for which she received her Ph. D. in 1988. She taught German literature at several universities, including Queen Mary College, London, and is still teaching creative writing on a regular basis, both in schools as well as in workshops for young writers, psychotherapists, and others. Among the literary awards she received are the Oldenburg Jugendbuchpreis, the German Crime-Writing Award (Deutscher Krimipreis) and the Lessing Scholarship of the City of Hamburg as well as several writers- in-residence awards in Germany and Luxemburg.

Regula Venske has been a member of German PEN since 1998. In April 2017, she was elected president of German PEN and is currently serving her second term as such, after having served as general secretary for 4 years (2 terms) from 2013-2017. Since Oct. 2015, she has also served as a member of the board of PEN International.

Regula Venske lives in Hamburg, Germany, and is the mother of two sons. For more information, please see www.regulavenske.de .

5. Thida Ma (PEN Myanmar), nominated by PEN America and PEN Japan

Statement of intent

Dear Friends,

As I really want PEN International as an institution of both, people who were the concerned case of others and people who have concern for the others, I run my first term as board member for 2016-19 term. I do want to expand this concept and use my personal experience and passion for our institution as a member of its board for another term, since our centenary event is soon to be hold. I believe that at least one person with this kind of experience should be presented as PEN International’s board members to give this strong message of our institution to the public.

During this term, I have also tried my best to contribute my own experience on how to build a new center, efficient and capable, in a short period of time, as PEN Myanmar was established in 2013 and has grown so much in terms of funding, activities, policies and staff within 6 years.

The next intent of mine is related to regional issues. Since Southeast Asia region is still suffering the syndrome of self-censorship and state-propaganda, we need to work more for this region in order to have more balanced status of freedom of expression all over the world. For that reason, I decided I am still looking for chance to help build more centers in this region.

Yours Sincerely, Ma Thida (Sanchaung) Core member of PEN Myanmar

Biography

Ma Thida (ca . 1966) is a medical doctor, writer, human rights activist and former prisoner of conscience. She currently edits at a Burmese magazine, Shwe Amyutay and a two-weekly journal, Info Digest ; and also volunteers at a free clinic run by a local NGO.

In October 1993, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for "endangering public peace, having contact with illegal organizations, and distributing unlawful literature." But in 1999, she was released due to declining health, increasing political pressure and the efforts of organizations like Amnesty International and PEN International. She was awarded several international human rights awards, including the Reebok Human Rights Award (1996), the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write 8

Award (1996), Freedom of Speech Award by the Norwegian Writers Union (2011) and Vaclav Havel’s Disturbing the Peace; Courageous Writer at Risk Award (2016) .

From 2008 to 2010, she lived in the US as an International Writers Project Fellow at Brown University and a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University.

She was the very first elected president of PEN Myanmar (2013-16) and was also elected as a board member of PEN International since 2016 October. She is still helping PEN Myanmar to its efficient capacity building, and now the center has many policies like sexual harassment, financial, whistle blower of its own, but in line with the PEN charter. She led a team of PEN Myanmar members and finished a survey about literature inclusiveness among mainstream short stories in Myanmar from 2008 t0 2018. With her close support, PEN Myanmar is trying to run as an institution for writers (including journalists), readers and for all the ones who love both creativity and freedom of expression (FOE) as their core value. It does advocacy on laws and practices of FOE to both national and regional parliaments and governments.

6. Tomica Basijc (Croatian PEN), nominated by PEN Sydney and PEN Ukraine

Statement of intent

Developing Croatian PEN activities as organizer and graphic designer, I have placed PEN within major Croatian literary festivals thus acquiring wider media reach in belief that our work would be most visible and spread most efficiently through its natural creative surroundings.

In that light our most recent activities are Migratory voices - Mediterranean unity through diversity; Words Without Walls within the World Literature festival; Writers Residence in spirit of Make Space Campaign; Continuing Media Events on creative freedom against xenophobia and protection of refugee aid networks; The right to tell your own story and future of Europe with European Short Story Festival and Rijeka, European Capital of Culture in 2020.

Being also one of the long-time coordinators within LYRIKLINE, one of world’s most influential audio and written poetry platform that marks its 20 years growing out of scratch to a kind of Alexandrian library of contemporary world poetry, hosting 1374 poets, 12310 poems, 84 languages and 18451 translations with 1.400,000 visits in previous year, I wholeheartedly believe that as a member of the PEN International board I can help our PEN family gain more visibility developing various compatible networks within our creative environment.

Tomica Bajsic President of Croatian PEN Centre

Biography

Tomica Bajsić is a poet, prose writer, graphic artist and translator. Author of five poetry collections and two books of illustrated travel prose, and a picture book for kids. Twice awarded with high national awards for poetry. Poetry and prose pieces translated into many languages. He works also in the fields of art restoration, illustration, graphic design and photography, with two expositions in Zagreb: Amazon Breathes in Cultural Centre and Brazilian Rainforest in Mimara Museum, Zagreb.

One of the founders and editor for poetry in translation in Croatian magazine Poezija (2004 to 2017) published by Croatian Writers Society, where he organized writer’s exchanges with many countries as a vice president for international cooperation. Croatian coordinator of Lyrikline network , based in Berlin, biggest and most influential world audio and written poetry platform. From 2010, founder and chief editor of Druga priča , Graphic Design & Publishing. Translator and editor of five international poetry anthologies.

From 2017, president of Croatian PEN Centre.

Critics have declared him “one of the most authentic contemporary Croatian poets” whose “first book was the most authentic anti-war testimony about the war experienced first-hand with a strong poetic voice whose books do not follow the generationally dominant neorealist matrix, but rather approach a fantastic linguistic cosmogony in their narratives” (Katarina Mažuran); “one of those writers that truly cherish life and difference, who knows that every human life is unrepeatably unique. He belongs to that almost extinct kind of people that are not waiting for the world to come to their tv screens, and have courage to encounter all of life’s challenges – from the utmost joy to the deepest suffering” (Delimir Rešicki); and “a poet of a universal humanism and belief in the healing power of an artistic undertaking as was not seen to date in Croatian poetry” (Damir Šodan).

Candidates for the Chairperson of the Writers for Peace Committee

1. Emmanuel Pierrat (French PEN), nominated by PEN Slovenia, PEN Mali and PEN Turkey

Statement of intent

Elected Chair of the Writers for Peace Committee during the 51st International Writers' Congress, I hereby state that I am willing to subject my election to confirmation to the PEN International’s General Assembly during the 85th Congress in Manila.

The WfPC of PEN International stands unwaveringly for peace and democracy, presents essential resolutions and organizes key events. On the base ground of this dedicated work, I would like to keep all its present activities going, but also to break open new paths for action.

With this purpose in mind, it seems salutary to establish three working groups set up around three fundamental topics:

1. the migrants’ situation, which includes authors, 2. armed conflicts, wars, and rising authoritarism that hinder freedom of speech and threaten writers, 3. hate speech and other forms of discrimination, that hinder freedom of speech.

Every group would have a team leader project and would collaborate with other Committees.

Finally, allow me to briefly present my literary and professional experience. I am both a writer and a lawyer in the cultural and penal fields.

Over the years, I have published, as a novelist, essayist, legal specialist or art specialist, more than one hundred books. Many of them focus on censorship and on the actions that we have to take on many fronts for peace and freedom of speech.

I have been a member of the French PEN Club and served both as Vice-President and President, as well as Vice-President of the Writers for Peace Committee.

I am thus strongly committed to the high mission of the WfPC which holds a great significance to me and that I would be both happy and honoured to defend on a much wider scale. PEN must fight back threats to international peace and security and strengthen brotherliness.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to consider my candidacy.

Yours sincerely, Emmanuel Pierrat President of the French PEN Club and Vice-President of the WfPC

10

Biography

Emmanuel Pierrat, born in 1968, is a writer and a lawyer at the Paris Bar both in the cultural and penal fields. Currently, he is the President of the French PEN Club, as well as the Vice-President of the WfPC of PEN International.

He has published over fifteen novels and short stories. At the same time, he is the author of a large number of reference legal works on publishing law, freedom of speech and book trade, including Le Droit d’auteur et l’édition (1998, 2005, 2013) and Le Droit du livre (2001, 2005, 2013). He has also written numerous essays on culture, justice or censorship and in particular: La Guerre des Copyrights (2006), Antimanuel de droit (2007), Le Livre noir de la censure (2008), La Liberté sans expression ? Jusqu'où peut-on tout dire, écrire, dessiner ? (2015), Le Grand Livre de la censure (2018) and Nouvelles morales, nouvelles censures (2018). In parallel, he has published art or illustrated books and has translated several works from English or Bangla. As for his own works, they have been translated into English, Spanish, German, Greek, Romanian, Bangla, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Arab, Russian, Serbian, Galician etc.

Former member of the National Bars Council and former member of the Paris Bar Council, Emmanuel Pierrat founded in 2003 the law firm that bears his name, composed of fifteen lawyers and co-leaded with his three associates. Furthermore, he is the curator of the Paris Bar Museum, the general secretary of the Paris Yves Saint Laurent Museum and a legal columnist for the professional magazine Livres Hebdo.

Emmanuel Pierrat was made Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres and has received the great silver medal of jurisprudence from the Academy of Architecture, as well as several literary rewards and prizes.

Candidates for Members of the Search Committee

1. Dessale Berekhet Abraham (PEN Eritrea in Exile), nominated by PEN Uganda and PEN Eritrea

Statement of intent

I am writing this Statement to inform you of my interest and willingness to be nominated to stand as a member of the above-mentioned committee. I believe, any organization is as strong as its leadership is. It is the most crucial part for the growth and strengthening of any association. And I truly understand that working for a committee which identifies people who will be committed to serve for different positions in such as PEN International is both a privilege and challenge.

Moreover, I have carefully seen the wonderful people in the committee, and I feel that my presence among them will add up to expand on their diversity and experience. I also think this will help for a broader representation in PEN International’s committee members.

I came from Eritrea, a country which is badly suffering under the most repressive regime. But I don’t consider myself only Eritrean. My perspective is global. I also lived in Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda. I speak the languages and feel the realities. Therefore, my presence in this committee will also have a reciprocal nature. Thus, I can learn from the team a great deal and/or I can contribute my humble and unique experience, too.

Respectfully, Dessale B. Abraham

Biography

My Full name is Dessale Berekhet Abraham. I was born in Dec. 16 th , 1974.

I live in Norway as an exiled writer under the ICORN resettlement program. Currently, I am the Director and Journalist-writer for a Diaspora Based Radio Sa’eyob.

Here are some of the activities and achievements I can introduce myself with:

Wit in Eritrea

In Eritrea, I was entirely devoted to both writing and journalism. I have used my skills and talents to create awareness and sense of purpose mainly amongst the youth and children of my home country. This was after a prolonged bloody war, which has ravaged the country.

To do this, I have authored and co-authored 7 books and worked as a columnist in different Newspapers and magazines in both the major languages of the country - Tigre and Tigrinya. I was a core-founder of two magazines, ‘ Takiya ’ (Pillar) in Tigre language and Finan in Tigrigya.

I was employed as a Cultural Researcher under the National Research and Documentation Centre (RDC) under which I have published 2 books.

Educational background

In 2016: I completed one year’s crash program at Nansenskolen in Norway - https://nansenskolen.no/english/ on Philosophy, Literature, and Politics.

2012 – 2014: Høgskolen I Telemark ‘Scandinavian Studies’

2010 – 2011: Different short courses in management and Public Relations at Makerere University – Kampala Uganda

1998 – 2005: Asmara University, BA Degree in English language and Political Sc.

1996 – 97: Diploma Course on Journalism and Mass Communication in Eritrea.

In Exile

- In Uganda, together with previous colleagues, we have established a website to fight back the regime in Eritrea. Our efforts were awarded internationally: http://www.cjfe.org/mebrahtu_teclesion_berhe_ruth_zecarias_and_dessale_berekhet_abraham_eritrea

-In 2014, I was the core-founder of PEN Eritrea in exile: http://www.peneritrea.com/ for whom I have worked as a Public Relations Officer.

-This was also awarded - http://icorn.org/article/dessale-berekhet-awarded-pen-catalas-international- free-voice-prize

12

Candidates for International Vice President

1. Elena Poniatowska, nominated by PEN Nicaragua, PEN Paraguay

PEN Nicaragua

Mr. Carles Torner Executive Director, PEN International.

Dear Carles Torner,

The Nicaraguan PEN Centre is pleased to propose the Mexican-Polish journalist and writer Elena Poniatowska as an excellent candidate for the position of Vice-President of PEN International. We support her candidacy due to the literary and journalistic achievements she has made throughout her lifetime as well as her fight for freedom of expression and human rights for which she has been recognised with numerous national and international awards. Poniatowska has written more than forty books, including essays, novels, short stories, interviews, reports and articles.

Elena Poniatowska has received the French Legion of Honour ; the Spanish Miguel de Cervantes Literary Prize; the Maria Moors Cabot Prize for Journalism from Columbia University , New York; the Chilean Gabriela Mistral Prize ; the Courage Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation; the Premio Biblioteca Breve for Leonora , a biographical novel about Leonora Carrington. Poniatowska has also received the Alfaguara Novel Prize for La piel del cielo (The skin of the sky).

She also received the Mazatlán Literary Prize in 1971; the Mexican National Journalism Award in 1978; the Manuel Buendía Prize in 1987 for her work relating to writing and journalism (awarded by several universities); the Coatlicue Prize in 1990 as Woman of the Year, awarded by Debate Feminista and Divas ; the Mazatlán Literary Prize in 1992 for Tinísima ; the Juchimán de Plata Award in 1993 in Communication Sciences and Technologies, awarded by the Juchimán Foundation.

Poniatowska also received the National Prize for Science and Arts in the field of Linguistics and Literature in 2002; the Rómulo Gallegos Prize in 2007 for El tren pasa primero (The train passes first); the International Strachit de Martin Prize in 2008; the Rosario Castellanos prize in 2010; the Eugenio Galo Espejo Cevallos Award in 2010; the International Alberto Spencer Schwiebert Rosalito Award in 2012; the Frida Dimitra Kahlo Witteven Award in Villagomez, Bolivia in 2012; the José Emilio Pacheco Medal from the Yucatan International Book Fair (FILEY) in 2014; and the Fine Arts Medal from the Mexican National Institute of Fine Arts in 2014.

Helene Elizabeth Louise Amelie Paula Dolores Poniatowska Amor was born in Paris as daughter of the heir to the Polish throne, Evremont Poniatowski and Dolores Amor, a Mexican whose family was living in exile in France. She arrived in Mexico at the age of ten and she is the most Mexican of all Mexicans, with her heart overflowing with love for the welfare of the people of her country.

We have recounted her multiple awards and prizes to summarise the life of this extraordinary woman who brings together all her strength and creative capacity in her unfailing commitment to freedom, the fate of her country and justice around the world.

It with great pleasure that we propose Elena Poniatowska Amor as a candidate for the elections that will be held at the meeting of the Assembly of Delegates during the International Congress in Manila 2019.

Gioconda Belli President of the Executive Board of the Nicaraguan PEN Centre

PEN Paraguay

Dear Carles,

PEN Paraguay, under the mandate of the new President of the Executive Committee María Engenia Ayala, proposes Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska as a candidate for the role of Vice-President of PEN International, the election for which takes place at the next PEN General Assembly in 2019 in the city of Manila, Philippines.

It is our great pleasure to support this candidacy due to her long and fruitful career as a journalist and, above all, as a writer who has provided us with a legacy of works that are true examples of creativity and excellence. She has honoured Mexican literature and the whole of America with her numerous national and international awards, including the Cervantes Prize, the highest recognition for Ibero- American writers.

Her candidacy is like a bridge linking the writers of Ibero-America and the world.

Best wishes from Asunción, Emi Kasamatsu Honorary President PEN Paraguay

2. Luisa Valenzuela, nominated by Catalan PEN, PEN San Miguel and PEN Argentina

Catalan PEN

Dear Carles Torner, Executive Director of PEN International,

PEN Argentina would like to propose Luisa Valenzuela as a candidate for the position of Vice- President of PEN International due to her literary achievements. This candidacy is for the elections that will be held at the meeting of the Assembly of Delegates, to take place during the International Congress in Manila 2019.

We believe that her election as Vice-President of PEN International is endorsed by her vast international experience, her dedication to the values of the PEN International Charter, and the undeniable value of her literature, not only in Latin America, but universally. This is further supported by the numerous awards and recognition she has received internationally.

Àngels Gregori Parra President Catalan PEN

14

PEN San Miguel

Dear Carles Torner, Executive Director of PEN International,

San Miguel PEN is honored to propose Luisa Valenzuela as a candidate for the Vice Presidency of PEN International for her literary achievements.

World famous Argentinian author and literary activist, Luisa Valenzuela, is best known for her work written in powerful critique of the dictatorship in Argentina, patriarchal social organizations and the power structures, which inhere in human sexuality and gender relationships. In addition to her many novels, short stories, essays, and newspaper articles, in Spanish and English, she has been honoured by nearly every branch and institution of her own government; as well she is the recipient of prestigious awards in the United States:

• 1965 Kraft Award • 1966 Premio del Instituto Nacional de Cinematografía • 1969 Fulbright Scholarship (International Writing Program, University of Iowa) • 1972 Scholarship of Argentine "Fondo Nacional de las Artes" for investigations in New York City • 1981/82 Fellow of the Institute for the Humanities of New York University • 1983 Guggenheim-Scholarship • 1985 Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University • Honorary Doctor of University of Knox, Illinois • 1997 Medal "Machado de Assis" of Academia Brasilera de Letras • 2004 Premio Astralba (University of Puerto Rico) • 2011 Elected Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences • 2016 Gran Premio de Honor de la SADE • 2017 Honorary Doctor of Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Argentina

This candidacy is for the elections that will be held at the meeting of the delegates’ assembly during the Manila International Congress 2019.

Respectfully, Judyth Hill President of San Miguel PEN Centre

PEN Argentina

Dear Carles Torner, Executive Director of PEN International,

PEN Argentina proposes Luisa Valenzuela as Vice-President of PEN International for the elections to be held in Manila at the meeting of the Assembly of Delegates.

Ms. Valenzuela has greatly contributed to the regeneration of the PEN Argentina Center and she is currently the living representative of our most recognized literature abroad; her work - composed of novels, stories and short stories - is studied in universities from all around the world.

We consider that all the reasons above mentioned are sufficient merit for this nomination as Vice President of PEN International.

Best wishes,

Gabriel Seisdedos Acting President