PEN

Re-launch of Irish PEN

Music, readings and teamwork across the planet marked the re-launch of Irish PEN/PEN na hEireann on 15th November. Irish PEN defends “responsible freedom of expression” worldwide and “fosters international understanding through the appreciation of literature” under the patronage of the Irish president #MichealDHiggins.
Irish PEN can connect us to those with shared goals in other countries. Norske PEN highlights a Turkish writer Ilhan Sami Comak, who has been in prison for 26 years and has published 8 books of poetry. Check out http:/norskpen.no/nb_NO/?s=Ilhan+Sami+Comak for inspiring poetry like this from prison and join campaigns for his release.
“There is no city we need to reach. Everything is here.
Open the window. Open it as the horses whinny
in the wideness of the world. Open it without speaking
of the shortness of summer, the never-ending winter.
Open it, that the sky stirs with the hidden symbols of my mind.”