Who we are

Over 100 years of celebrating literature and protecting freedom of expression

PEN International was founded in London, UK, in 1921, simply as PEN. Today, it operates across five continents in 100 countries, with 139 Centres supporting unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all nations.

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Photo: Roberk Brooks

Literature knows no frontiers…

PEN International is guided by the ideals of the PEN Charter, which expresses every member’s commitment to protecting the free exchange of ideas, and promoting the value of literature.

  • The PEN Charter affirms that:

    Literature knows no frontiers and must remain common currency among people in spite of political or international upheavals.

    In all circumstances, and particularly in time of war, works of art, the patrimony of humanity at large, should be left untouched by national or political passion.

    Members of PEN should at all times use what influence they have in favour of good understanding and mutual respect between nations and people; they pledge themselves to do their utmost to dispel all hatreds and to champion the ideal of one humanity living in peace and equality in one world.

    PEN stands for the principle of unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all nations, and members pledge themselves to oppose any form of suppression of freedom of expression in the country and community to which they belong, as well as throughout the world wherever this is possible. PEN declares for a free press and opposes arbitrary censorship in time of peace. It believes that the necessary advance of the world towards a more highly organised political and economic order renders a free criticism of governments, administrations and institutions imperative. And since freedom implies voluntary restraint, members pledge themselves to oppose such evils of a free press as mendacious publication, deliberate falsehood and distortion of facts for political and personal ends.

    The Charter of PEN International has guided, unified and inspired its members for over 70 years. It was approved at the 1948 PEN Congress in Copenhagen.

 Board

The board of PEN International is elected by PEN Centres. Board members come from across the globe and share a belief that our organisation can make a vital contribution to literature and freedom of expression. They are responsible for the governance and strategic direction of PEN.

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    Burhan Sonmez

    International President

    Burhan Sonmez is an award winning Kurdish novelist and lawyer from Turkey. He was re-elected President of PEN International on the 27th of September 2024, during PEN International’s Annual Congress.

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    Arne Svingen

    International Secretary

    Arne Svingen is a Norwegian writer and a member of PEN Norway. Known for his extensive work in children's literature. He was elected as International Secretary on the 27th September 2024, during PEN International's Annual Congress.

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    Eric Lax

    Treasurer

    Eric Lax has written on a wide range of topics, from movies and their makers to science, the history of medicine, and faith. His books include New York Times and international bestsellers and Notable Books of the Year.

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    Beatrice Lamwaka

    Board Member

    Beatrice Lamwaka writes for Global Press Journal, an international media organization that produces award-winning journalism. She is the President, PEN Uganda and has facilitated creative writing workshops in prisons in Uganda.

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    Tanja Tuma

    Vice Chair of the Board

    Tanja Tuma, born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, is the President of PEN Slovenia and former interim International Secretary of PEN International. She worked in publishing and bookselling for 20 years, partly in her own publishing company, before starting her literary career.

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    Ege Dündar

    Board Member

    The youngest board member ever elected, Ege Dündar is a writer and activist. He founded İlkyaz for young writers, Creative Witnesses, and is reviving the Tomorrow Club for writers under 35. His debut book, All These Things Aren’t Really Lost is now out.

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    Gabriel Seisdedos

    Board Member

    Gabriel Seisdedos was elected Board Member of PEN International during the 87th PEN International Congress. Born in Buenos Aires in 1963, he is a translator and writer. His latest book, La responsabilidad de la palabra. Nacimiento y apogeo, is coming soon.

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    Salil Tripathi

    Board Member

    Salil Tripathi was the Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International, 2015-2021. Salil is an award-winning journalist and writer. He has been a foreign correspondent in Singapore and Hong Kong and now lives in New York.

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    Kim Echlin

    Board Member

    Kim Echlin is an award winning novelist and essayist from Canada. Her fiction has been translated into 20 languages and her writing engages with themes of human rights, international
    law and language. She is a long time educator and mentor.

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    Mads Julius Elf

    Board Member

    Mads Julius Elf is a publisher and public intellectual, author of books and essays on appetite, free speech and Enlightenment culture. He has taught literature in Freiburg, Vilnius and Copenhagen. President of Danish PEN and Board Member of PEN International.

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Vice Presidents

Svetlana Alexievich
Margaret Atwood
Niels E. Barfoed Terry Carlbom
J. M. Coetzee
Sook-Hee Chun
Lucina Kathmann
Kata Kulavkova
Eric Lax

Joanne Leedom-Ackermann
Jens Lohmann
Predrag Matvejevic
Perumal Murugan
Elisabeth Nordgren Hori Takeaki
Franca Tiberto
Carles Torner Olga Tokarczuk

Presidents Emeritus

Homero Aridjis, Jennifer Clement, Mario Vargas Llosa, John Ralston Saul, Per Wästberg

Boris A. Novak
William Nygaard
Vida Ognjenovic
Orhan Pamuk
Elena Poniatowska
Nayantara Sahgal
Michael Scammell
Eugene Schoulgin


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Patrons and partners   

PEN International's commitment to the promotion of literature and fight for freedom of expression would not be possible without our patrons and partners. We are grateful for their solidarity and support.

  • The generous support of all our Patrons is crucial in helping us to protect persecuted writers and their dependents, to respond quickly in emergencies, and to challenge threats to freedom of expression.

    Please contact us here to discuss becoming a PEN partner or member of one of our Patrons Circles.

    President’s Circle

    Hachette Livre
    Eric Lax and Karen Sulzberger
    Penguin Random House

    Atlas Folio Patrons

    Anonymous Donor

    Folio Patrons

    Anne and Michael Golden
    Moomin Characters Oy Ltd
    C.H. Beck

    Quarto Patrons

    Yann Martel

    Octavo Patrons

    Jeremy Mogford & ‘The Oxford Collection’

    Special Mentions

    Isabel Allende
    Margaret Atwood
    David Lagercrantz
    Orhan Pamuk

  • Elliot Ackerman

    Hanan Al-Shaykh

    Laurie Halse Anderson

    Mona Arshi

    Margaret Atwood

    Hanan Awwad

    Catherine Banner

    Andrea Barnet

    Simon Beckett

    Louis de Bernières

    Gloria Browne-Marshall

    Arlin Çiçekçi

    Carolyn Cohagan

    Anthony Doerr

    Gwen Edelman

    Carleton Eastlake

    Gina Frangello

    Rita Gabis

    Joan Gelfand

    Nina George

    James Gleick

    Arthur Golden

    Lauren Groff

    Viv Groskop

    Hakan Günday

    Jane Hirshfield

    Laura Hubber

    Debra Jo Immergut

    Karl Ove Knausgaard

    David Lagercrantz

    Eric Lax

    Joanne Leedom-Ackerman

    M. G. Lord

    Geert Mak

    Yann Martel

    Maaza Mengiste

    Anya Niewierra

    Vida Ognjenović

    Ben Okri

    Sofi Oksanen

    John Ralston Saul

    Sir Ian Rankin

    Petra Reski

    Bernhard Schlink

    Mikhail Shishkin

    Lemn Sissay OBE

    Jane Smiley

    Burhan Sonmez

    Frances Spurrier

    Colm Tóibín

    Ayelet Waldman

    Jess Walter

    Jamie Wolf

    Klaus-Peter Wolf

    Yosef Wosk

  • Albert Bonniers Förlag

    C.H. Beck

    Finnish Book Publishers Association

    Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli

    Guernica Editions

    Hachette Livre

    HarperCollins International

    Libella Group of Publishers

    Luchterhand Verlag

    Mareverlag

    Natur & Kultur

    Norstedts Förlagsgrupp

    Judith Gurewich and Other Press LLC

    Penguin Random House

    Simon & Schuster

    Suhrkamp Verlag

    Thames & Hudson

    Veen Bosch & Keuning Uitgeversgroep

    Yapi Kredi Culture Arts and Publishing

    Patrons of the PEN International Publishers Circle believe that literature and freedom of expression are at the heart of a strong, vibrant society. They support PEN International’s work to help silenced, unheard and unknown voices reach readers and writers everywhere.

  • We are grateful to all our supporters and partners for helping us protect writers and defend freedom of expression:

    Sida

    Clifford Chance

    UNESCO

    UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office

    Fritt Ord

    Getty Images

    Fondazione Feltrinelli

    ICORN

    Natur & Kultur

    Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

    UNDEF

 Our Staff

Our diverse and dedicated staff co-ordinate PEN International’s work from our headquarters in London, through research, advocacy, campaigns and other activities. Our team works with the board, as well as with 139 PEN Centres, national and regional hubs that carry out our work in over 100 countries.

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    Romana Cacchioli

    Executive Director

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    Emmanuel Asamoah

    Finance, HR and Admin Director and Company Secretary

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    Pavlo Bilyk

    Events & Data Officer

  • Sandra Zabala

    HR Officer

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    Sabrina Bravi

    Congress and Events Officer

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    Aurélia Dondo

    Head of Europe Region

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    Sabrina Tucci

    Head of Communications & Campaigns

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    Sandrine Fameni

    Finance and Administration Officer

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    Ross Holder

    Head of Asia/ Pacific Region

  • A man with glasses, facial hair, and short hair taking a selfie outdoors in front of a closed metal roll-up door with pink text reading 'Juices - DESSERTS'.

    Paul Julien

    Head of Development

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    Bo Borthwick

    Senior Digital Officer

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    Salwa Mohamed

    Finance and Administration Officer

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    Nduko o’Matigere

    Head of Africa Region

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    Paminder Parbha

    Head of Programmes

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    Alicia Quinones

    Head of Americas Region

  • A man with curly dark hair, brown eyes, and a beard, wearing a black leather jacket and navy shirt, standing outdoors on a park path surrounded by trees.

    Mina Thabet

    Head of Middle East and North Africa Region

  • Portrait of a woman with shoulder-length wavy brown hair, wearing clear glasses, gold hoop earrings, and a green knitted top, smiling against a plain light background.

    Portia Vanderplank-Jones

    Executive and Programmes Officer

  • A woman with long dark hair wearing a dark blazer over a white top and a pineapple-shaped necklace, smiling at the camera.

    Omnia Farrag Othman

    MENA Region Researcher

Our Committees

PEN International works through four standing Committees. PEN members who are part of these Committees meet regularly, holding discussions on the specific issues they are concerned with and developing a series of actions aimed at promoting peace, linguistic and translation rights, defending freedom of expression and at promoting literature throughout the world.

A person sitting at a desk working on a laptop with a cup and papers.
A poster with the large text "WRITERS IN PRISON!" at the top, followed by a list of names of writers from various countries under a subheading indicating their country. The bottom of the poster contains a handwritten message explaining the purpose of the list, which supports writers imprisoned worldwide and invites others to support them, along with contact information for an organization.

Manifestos and Declarations

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Annual Congress

The annual PEN Congress offers an opportunity for the entire PEN community to gather and speak about our work, strategize and adopt policy positions, exchange experiences and ideas, celebrate writing in all its forms, and simply catch up with old and new friends and colleagues.

Each Congress is hosted by a PEN Centre, and is given a thematic focus, reflecting current global issues. Each congress is accompanied by Resolutions.

The 91st PEN International Congress took place in Kraków, Poland, 2–5 September 2025.

For further information please contact Sabrina Bravi, Congress and Events Officer, at [email protected] .

FIND OUT MORE
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Governance

PEN International is a registered charity in England and Wales, governed by an Executive Board with representatives from across our PEN Centres. We are committed to being accountable and transparent to our members, supporters, partners and the communities we work with across the globe.

To find out more about our work, explore our strategic plan, annual reports and operation policies which are available to download below.

Respect for all languages and cultures is fundamental to the process of constructing and maintaining dialogue and peace in the world.

— The Girona Manifesto on Linguistic Rights