English PEN is the founding centre of International PEN, a membership association with 144 branches in more than one hundred countries, providing an active and supportive community for writers and readers around the world. PEN was founded in 1921 in order to promote literature as a means of greater understanding between cultures.
One of English PEN's most recent projects is the online World Atlas, a resource for information about the world's great writers and emerging voices. What makes the Atlas especially useful is the fact that all the content is added by readers and writers who want to pass on their tips and create a new global community of readers.
The site launched in 2009 with a focus on writing from the Arab region. To contribute, go the World Atlas website, create a user profile and start adding information!
Find out more and share your thoughts about the site on the World Atlas blog, which features daily posts about translation, world literature and literature online.
PEN's other work
English PEN fields one of International PEN's largest Writers in Prison committees, working on behalf of persecuted writers around the world.
In the United Kingdom, English PEN campaigns to improve the understanding of freedom of expression as a fundamental human right.
They are extremely proud of their public events programme, ranging from large-scale public discussions and debates to more intimate talks and seminars. They also run the Readers and Writers programme, founded in 2000, which promotes literacy and literature among socially excluded children, young people and adults.
And their Writers in Translation programme is dedicated to supporting and promoting literary translation in the United Kingdom, by offering grants to publishers to enable
