| Background Information | English PEN, the English Centre of International PEN, exists to promote literature and the freedom to write, alongside international cooperation and understanding between writers. PEN has its roots in Mrs CA Dawson Scott's Tomorrow Club for young writers, established in 1917, which in turn led to the foundation of the PEN Club, with John Galsworthy. This body, which was renamed English PEN, then became the founding centre of International PEN, a major international non-governmental organisation in its own right, with more than 140 centres in around 100 countries worldwide. The human rights aspects of PEN's work saw the establishment in 1960 of the Writers in Prison Committee. Company no. 5747142. There also exists a charitable arm, the PEN Literary Foundation, charity no. 261272. Source: www.englishpen.org |
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