Thursday, February 10, 2011

Little Magazine mela and Kolkata Pustak Mela : The PEN ( West Bengal)



The PEN All India Center, West Bengal Chapter, Of International PEN, had organised two meetings on contemporary literature, where writers got tegether, read their own literary works and discussed on contemporary literature. A few photographs have been posted below

The photos taken in the book fair














On 26th January 2011, at Kolkata Book Fair 2011, Milanmela prangon, Kolkata, West Bengal, India, we gathered together like every year, to read our literary works and share views with other deferent writers from diferent states. On the first day , and our meeting was scheduled to be the beginning of the book fair, at an a.c. room of Allahabad bank hall, fixed with in short time, and in a chaos of improper management of book fair committee, Most our writers were not communicated properly and those were communicated could not reach in time due to proper way to locate the place of meeting. Any how we had 55 minutes programme, and we are grateful to Book Fair Guild for the generous help in every year.


Below the pictures taken on last 16th January, Little magazine mela ( 11th Jan to 16 th Jan 2011), Bangla Academy, Kolkata, The West Bengal PEN had a literary meeting with collaboration of a magazine named 'DARSHAK'














Many emminet writers were present, Photos : from my mobile

English PEN Events February 2011

English PEN Events February 2011

Thursday, February 10, 2011

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Just a quick reminder of some of the events English PEN has coming up in the next few weeks. Full details of our Writers in Public programme can also be found on the English PEN website.

‘I have an Idea!’

Tuesday 15 February, 6.30pm

Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road , London EC1R 3GA

We begin our 90th anniversary celebrations by exploring the origins of PEN. In 1921, the poet, novelist and literary hostess Amy Dawson Scott declared 'I have an Idea!' She envisaged an international association of writers that would work towards greater understanding and peace between nations. 90 years later, PEN has grown into a global body with members in more than 100 countries worldwide. For this unique event, exploring the personalities and politics behind the birth of this extraordinary organisation, join the founder's granddaughter,Marjorie Ann Watts, illustrator, children's books author and writer who has recently published the short story collection Are They Funny, Are They Dead?; literary historian Simon Barker, author of a study of the life and work of English PEN's first President, John Galsworthy; andVictoria Glendinning, the biographer and former President of English PEN.

Tickets for this event are £5 for English PEN members and £8 for non-members. To book, please call the Free Word Centre on 020 7324 2570 or
visit their website. The ticket price includes a glass of wine.

Representing Sri Lanka in the Face of Conflict

Wednesday 23 February, 6pm

Edmond J Safra Lecture Theatre, King’s College London, The Strand, London , WC2R 2LS

Sri Lanka has been home to one of the longest civil wars in recent history, yet this conflict has gone relatively unreported and attacks upon journalists are widespread. In this special event exploring the long and complex history behind the conflict, Priyath Liyanage, head of the BBC Singala Service, will show an extract from his film August Sun and discuss his experiences of representing Sri Lanka in both the media and on film. He'll be joined by Dr. Minoli Salgado, Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Sussex and author of Writing Sri Lanka : Literature, Resistance and the Politics of Place and members of the Sri Lanka Peace and Justice Campaign.


This event is being organised and hosted by the inaugural English PEN student group, based at King's College, London .

Tickets are £3, or £2 for students and PEN members. Please
book online, or call 020 7324 2535. It is also possible to pay on the door, but as space is limited please reserve your place in advance by emailing cat@englishpen.org.

Inspirations

Sunday 6 March, 7pm

The Tricycle Theatre, 269 Kilburn High Road , London NW6 7JR

In a special theatrical evening to mark the handover of the English PEN Presidency from Lisa Appignanesi to Gillian Slovo, the two authors choose writings that have inspired and moved them over the years. Leading actors join them to read their favourites. From Pooh to Portnoy, from Carol Ann Duffy to Salman Rushdie, their inspirations include some of the treasures of world literature - and some of its best kept secrets. Join us for this star-studded fundraising event, directed by leading playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker.

Tickets for this event are £25. To book, call the Tricycle Theatre on 020 7328 1000 or visit their website.



Monday, February 7, 2011

International PEN Newsletter January 2011

International PEN Newsletter January 2011





Best wishes to all members around the world for the year to come, and to those of you for whom New Year's Day still lies ahead.

For our members in Belarus, the year ended badly, with violence and imprisonment. Belarus is one of those difficult cases where an old-fashioned dictator simply doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks - at least, not so far. But you never know when and where pressure might be felt, so please take up the Writers in Prison Committee's call to speak out against the events in that country.

The year also ended with the bittersweet awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to our member Liu Xiaobo, former President of the Independent Chinese Pen Centre. Some twenty of you from five PEN Centres were present with me at the ceremony in Oslo. It was a moment of great honour for Liu, for PEN International and for literature and freedom of expression. Yes, Liu is still in prison, but with this award the universal principles of free expression were placed at the very centre of world affairs - where they belong - in the context of writing and language. The empty chair symbolising Liu spoke to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

A few days before Oslo, I had been in Cairo for a meeting of the Pan-African Network (PAN) hosted by Egyptian PEN and Egypt's Council of Culture. It was a fascinating gathering. I learned a great deal, and it was wonderful to see the energy in PAN and the desire to push its programmes forward.

While there I met with Amr Moussa, Secretary-General of the Arab League, and with his advisors. We talked at length about PEN's work and the essential role of free expression. The following week I called on Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, to explore how PEN and UNESCO can deepen their relationship. I also had a very positive meeting with Abdou Diouf, Secretary-General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. In this way, we must continue carrying the message of literature and free expression to the core of public affairs.

My last engagement of the year was to give a talk to 12,000 Muslims at an annual conference in Toronto; it was exciting to be able to bring our message of free expression to such a large and interested audience.

This year will be key for PEN International. One sign of greater outreach will be our new website, due this spring and designed to be a flexible and accurate reflection of PEN.

Perhaps most importantly of all, we have begun to search for a new Executive Director. All the information about the position will be available on our current website this month, and will be also be sent to all Centres. Please look at it and think about possible candidates: you may be able to suggest the person we are looking for.

John Ralston Saul
International President


Since my appointment in autumn 2010 as International Secretary, I have been concerned with the question of determining the most urgent matters facing PEN International.

There is certainly no shortage of compelling and competing ideas. At the start of this new year, however, I believe one activity can be considered most deserving of our attention: the promotion of exchanges between writers from among the various PEN families, with literary translation as a priority.

The widespread translation of foreign texts is not the norm in most countries. There are some exceptions; a notable one is Japan, where 40 per cent of all published books are translations from foreign literature. Unfortunately, the preoccupation with terrorism and security over the past decade has altered cultural paradigms in every respect, everywhere, and opportunities for exchange have been steadily shrinking. Fewer foreign students are able to obtain visas to study abroad, for example, even in developed countries - which, as a result, are becoming backward-looking, increasingly concerned only about protecting their own cultural domains. If this trend continues, the resulting lack of exposure to ideas from abroad will become a danger not only to developed countries but to the entire world.

The exchange of world literatures is a cause for which writers everywhere must mobilise, not only well-known, established writers but also newer and younger ones. Multilateral events, among other responses, can play a critical role, and PEN International is a logical leader in the promotion of a renewed global translation/exchange effort reaching every corner of the world.

Takeaki Hori
International Secretary



PEN International counts two more Nobel Laureates among its members

Several PEN members, including Nadine Gordimer, Harold Pinter and J. M. Coetzee, have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in recent years. In 2010, the prize went to Mario Vargas Llosa, the Peruvian novelist and journalist who served as PEN International's President from 1976-9. In his Nobel acceptance speech in Stockholm on 9 December, Vargas Llosa said: ‘Good literature erects bridges between different peoples, and by having us enjoy, suffer or feel surprise, unites us beneath the languages, beliefs, habits, customs and prejudices that separate us.' This sentiment seems to reach into the very heart of what PEN stands for.

This year too, for the first time ever, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to a PEN member: Chinese academic, writer and poet Liu Xiaobo. Liu, a founding president of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre (ICPC), was unable to receive his prize because of his continuing imprisonment in China. PEN International has worked alongside Liu in campaigning for free expression in China for more than two decades. PEN representatives present in Oslo on 10 December 2010, where the prize was due to be awarded to Liu, included ICPC President Tienchi Liao, President John Ralston Saul and co-Interim Executive Director Sara Whyatt of PEN International, Writers in Prison Committee Chair Marian Botsford Fraser and PEN American Center's International Programs Director Larry Siems.

PEN International has used this occasion to focus attention on Liu's case, call for his release and raise awareness of the dozens of other Chinese writers, bloggers and journalists (including members of the ICPC) who experienced house arrest, banning orders and other forms of state harassment in the weeks after the Nobel Peace Prize was announced. John Ralston Saul commented at the time: ‘It is the Chinese Constitution that commits [China's] government to civil and political rights. Liu Xiaobo is a model of the serious citizen who embraces his full legal rights. He should be admired for this, not imprisoned. China needs citizens like Liu Xiaobo.'


Wikileaks

In November 2010, the Wikileaks controversy hit the press and PEN International entered the debate, issuing a statement that saw the unfolding event as ‘a significant turning point in the evolution of the media and the sometimes conflicting principles of freedom of expression and privacy and security concerns'. It goes on to raise concerns about threats made to the head of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, as well as for websites that have been closed and by the attitudes of some employers. PEN International will be monitoring the issue and taking action as appropriate. (Read the full text of the statement can be found at:

www.internationalpen.org.ukhttp://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/news/pen-international-statement-on-wikileaks
www.internationalpen.org.ukhttp://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/news/d-claration-relative--l-affaire-wikileaks
www.internationalpen.org.ukhttp://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/news/declaraci-n-sobre-wikileaks


International Programmes

In 2010, the International Programmes team worked closely with PEN Centres in the Asia Pacific region to develop education programmes. Two Centres, Nepal PEN and Philippines PEN, are to launch projects that aim to promote a culture of reading and literature through a combination of teacher-training sessions, reading workshops for students and public literary sessions. The Asia Pacific Regional Programme has also enabled the Tibetan Writers Abroad PEN Centre to develop its links with the Tibetan community through its monthly journal - of which 4,000 copies are circulated per month, reaching more than 8,000 Tibetans - and through creative-writing workshops in schools. A meeting is also currently being planned to strengthen the network of PEN Centres in the region. This will involve seven Centres from Asia Pacific coming together in Lahore, Pakistan, in February 2011, to take part in training sessions dedicated to all aspects of Centre planning and development.

In Central Asia, the International Programmes team has focused on supporting the Ural Altay Language Solidarity Network and its development of a human-rights project in the region, targeting teachers and students alike. In Africa, Sierra Leone PEN, Uganda PEN, Guinea PEN, Ghana PEN, Malawi PEN and Zambia PEN continue their work in schools and in local communities to encourage reading, creative writing and awareness of human rights.


Free the Word!

PEN International's website now has up-to-date information about the aims and progress of the Free the Word! international network of literary events and festivals see (www.internationalpen.org.ukhttp://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/free-the-word).

PEN International is working with PEN Centres around the world to develop and expand the. Free the Word! network, which celebrates the best in contemporary writing from around the world. Each Free the Word! festival is rooted in its local culture, but is international in outlook

The aims of Free the Word! are:

  • to bring writers together to share ideas and experiences across cultures;
  • to explore and debate a range of issues connected with literature and freedom of expression;
  • to generate conversations about how literature can transform, influence and excite;
  • to contribute to the flow of literature around the world, through translation and the promotion of writing;
  • to introduce readers to both established and emerging voices;
  • to provide space for debate and dialogue between readers and writers.

Participating countries currently include Austria, Colombia, the Czech Republic, England, Estonia, Galicia, Georgia, Jamaica, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa and Turkey. You can find out more about their plans on the website.

The Free the Word! international network is supported by the Culture Programme of the European Union and the Prince Claus Foundation.

All PEN Centres are welcome to join the network and organise their own Free the Word! events. The links below will take you to a section that describes how to become involved, what is expected of a participating Centre and what kind of support PEN International can offer.

See:
www.internationalpen.org.ukhttp://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/free-the-word-/pen-centres-how-to-get-involved/pen-centres-how-to-get-involved

If you are interested in knowing more, please contact:

freetheword@internationalpen.org.uk


Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee

There are two important related items of note to bring to the attention of PEN International's members with regard to both the recent past and future plans of the TaLRC:

1. After the ordinary meeting of the Committee, held in Barcelona on 16-18 June 2010, the Committee met again in Tokyo during the 76th International PEN Congress. The general debate turned on the ‘impact of new technologies on reading habits and on culture'. An exchange of concerns, opinions and projects followed. The Committee came to an agreement to prepare, as one of its main tasks for the near future, an update of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights (adopted in Barcelona in 1996).

2. The update of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights is already underway, with the view that the text must be at once brief and clear; it should not simply repeat or reword the previous document. It should, rather, take the form of a manifesto or proclamation. A first draft will be submitted for discussion to the members of the Committee before the beginning of our next meeting, which will take place in Girona (near Barcelona) on 12-13May 2011. (This date will be confirmed to all delegates in due course.)


Writers for Peace Committee

The committee met at the 2010 Tokyo Congress and re-elected Edvard Kova? of Slovenia as chairman, a position he will serve for three more years.


Writers in Prison Committee

The WiPC's 50th Anniversary
As PEN International's members undoubtedly know, the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2010 with a year-long campaign, ‘Because Writers Speak Their Minds'. The WiPC published a list of fifty emblematic cases from the last fifty years to highlight the breadth of the committee's campaigning. PEN Centres all over the world hosted events, awarded prizes, wrote articles and published new works to commemorate the work of the WiPC over this dramatic half-century. All these activities coalesced around the Day of the Imprisoned Writer on 15 November 2010, which saw a huge number of PEN activities starting in New Zealand and Japan and then following the course of the rising and setting sun throughout the day. Although there was some sadness in acknowledging that many of the writers the WiPC has supported over the years are no longer alive (the most recent passing being that of Cameroon's Pius Njawe), we were also thrilled that two of our highest-profile cases received good news: Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in Burma, and Liu Xiaobo of China was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Meanwhile, the day-to-day work of the WiPC continues unabated, with regular action alerts, quiet advocacy and support for writers under threat all over the globe, from Azerbaijan to Mexico to Tunisia.

Tunisia Update
PEN International is closely monitoring the situation in Tunisia in the wake of the widespread protests that led to the fall of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in mid-January, and the subsequent establishment of an interim government to prepare for elections in the coming months. As events continue to develop on an almost hourly basis, it is of course far too early to say what impact the so-called ‘Jasmine Revolution' will have in the on freedom of expression and association, which have been so severely repressed for so many years. However, all political prisoners have already been released under a general amnesty, including journalist Fahem Boukaddous (jailed on trumped-up charges since July 2010), and interim President Fouad Mebazaa has promised media freedom and judicial independence.

PEN International expresses its solidarity with its Tunisian colleagues at this momentous time, in particular the Tunisian PEN Centre, and hopes that these changes will pave the way to greater freedom and democracy. It will continue to be active in the International Freedom of Expression Exchange's Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG), as it was throughout 2010.

Following PEN International's participation in the TMG's mission to Tunisia in April-May 2010 and subsequent meetings and a press conference at the European Parliament in Brussels in June, lobbying at the European Union remained high on the agenda in the latter part of 2010, with WiPC Africa researcher Tamsin Mitchell making two trips to Brussels in October. The purpose of the first trip was to present the TMG's mission report to a conference on the human rights situation in Tunisia and to accompany Sihem Bensedrine, Secretary General of Tunisian PEN, to meetings with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). During the second trip, Tamsin, Sihem and Tunisian rights lawyer and former WiPC case Mohamed Abbou, along with other TMG members, met with representatives of the European Commission and Parliament to highlight various concerns, including the plight of the aforementioned Fahem Boukaddous; a new law criminalising EU lobbying by Tunisian activists; and the lack of an independent judiciary in Tunisia. See: http://ifex.org/tunisia/2010/06/18/ifextmgmissionreport_june2010.pdf

In early December, Tamsin and TMG Chair Rohan Jayasekera of Index on Censorship undertook a follow-up trip to Tunisia, where they met with a number of judges, lawyers and NGOs as well as with Tunisian PEN.


Women Writers Committee

PEN International's Women Writers Committee held two meetings at the 76th International PEN Congress in Tokyo, and women writers from Japan PEN were well represented. PEN International's President John Ralston Saul emphasised the support he was prepared to give the Women's Committee to ensure that it becomes a stronger network in the future. PEN International's co-Interim Executive Director Frank Geary and Mitchell Albert, representing the Communications Department, attended part of the meeting and contributed by describing features of the forthcoming new PEN International website and answering queries.

Representatives from Korean PEN also attended; Lee Gil-Won presented the possibility of holding a women's conference in South Korea following the 2012 Congress there. However, it was also pointed out that costs would be reduced considerably by holding the conference during Congress, at Seoul's Literature House.

One of the most important results of the meeting was the decision that before any major projects (outside the conference) are started, clear aims and objectives need to be discussed, adopted and followed by a strategic plan for the following three to five years.

It was also decided that previous chair Judith Buckrich will be moderating the ‘Our Voice' Facebook page, which will be used instead of the website. The website will be archived, however, so as not to lose the history of the Committee.


PEN International Magazine

The last issue of the magazine, volume 60, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2010), themed ‘Words, Words, Nothing but Words', was in fact the final issue in PEN International's many years of producing a biannual printed literary magazine. Beginning in spring 2011, concurrent with the launch of the new PEN International website, the magazine will appear entirely online, freed from the many limitations of print production.

Now called simply The Magazine / La Revue / La Revista, it will continue to publish poems, stories, essays, excerpts from longer works and comics in English, French and Spanish, as well as in translation. The new online format will, we anticipate, prove extremely versatile, and will create opportunities to take the magazine to new places (literally). For more details, be sure to visit the new website in the springtime.

The debut online issue will not be rigorously themed, though we are encouraging works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry that take rebirth, reinvention or renewal as their inspiration.

Please refer to the submission guidelines on the current website, at:
http://www.internationalpen.org.ukhttp://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/pen-international-magazine


PEN Centre News

Macedonian PEN Centre
The 14th regional conference of Macedonian PEN will be held from 9-12 June 2011 in Ohrid, Macedonia.

Uyghur PEN Centre
Uyghur PEN is pleased to announce that multiple translations of Nurmuhemmet Yasin's short story ‘Wild Pigeon', for which the Xinjiang-based writer was sentenced to ten years in prison by Chinese authorities, are now available on the Centre's website. The story can be read in the original Uyghur as well as Chinese, Russian, Turkish, Hungarian and five other languages. Visit www.uyghurpen.org/read-the-wild-pigeon.html


PEN Centres: please send your news for inclusion to Emily Bromfield, emily.bromfield@internationalpen.org.uk


PEN celebrates literature and promotes freedom of expression. Founded in 1921, our global community of writers now spans more than 100 countries. Our programmes, campaigns, events and publications aim to connect writers and readers wherever they are in the world.


International PEN, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER
Email: info@internationalpen.org.uk
Website: www.internationalpen.org.uk
International PEN is a registered charity, number 1117088
To find out more visit www.internationalpen.org.uk

Sunday, February 6, 2011

The PEN All-India Center, West Bengal chapter ( Eastern India) - Bulletin

Bulletin: 7 th Feb. 2011


The PEN All-India Center, West Bengal chapter ( Eastern India)
44E, Kalupara Lane, Kolkata – 700031,West Bengal. India.
Phone: +91 9433580903 (secretary), +91 9477773288 ( campaign and communication)

Chairman: Mr. Sunil Gangopadhya, Vice chairman : Mr. Surojit Das
Honorary secretary and treasurer: Mr. Ranjan Gupta, Assistant secretary :Mr. Shyamal Bandopadhyay. Canpaign and communication executive: Mr. Albert Ashok




Dear Writers,

We are ‘West Bengal chapter ( Eastern India)’ an unit of an undivided organization, ‘The PEN All- India Center’ of ‘PEN International’. A world wide writers association, where writers from all cultures meet to discuss, debate and communicate.


‘PEN International’, originally founded in 1921 to promote literature, today International PEN has 145 Centres in 104 countries across the globe. It recognises that literature is essential to understanding and engaging with other worlds; if you can't hear the voice of another culture how can you understand it?

Our primary goal is to engage with, and empower, societies and communities across cultures and languages, through reading and writing. We believe that writers can play a crucial role in changing and developing civil society. We do this through the promotion of literature, international campaigning on issues such as translation and freedom of expression and improving access to literature at international, regional and national levels.

Our membership is open to all qualified writers who subscribe to the PEN Charter regardless of nationality, language, race, colour or religion. International PEN is a non-political organisation and has special consultative status at UNESCO and the United Nations.

International PEN brings together writers, journalists, poets – all those using the written word to promote ideas – in the common belief that it is through this sharing that bridges of understanding can be built between peoples. These bridges cross political, geographical, ethnic, cultural, religious and other divides.

It is for this reason that the protection of the right to freedom of expression – the freedom to express ideas without fear of attack, arrest or other persecution – has been at the heart of International PEN's work since it was formed in 1921.

We, ‘The PEN All- India Center, West Bengal chapter ( Eastern India)’ follow the charter and rules of PEN International.
The West Bengal Chapter (Eastern India) of ‘The PEN All – India Center’ is active since its inception as an Indian center of International PEN in the late thirties. You will find it mentioned in the memoirs or in autobiographies of early Prominent Bengali writers. We are happy that this old organization through many ups and downs, till today, is active. At present, our chair person is Mr. Sunil Gangopadhya, an internationally famed writer. He is the successor of Mr. Annada Shankar Roy, an eminent Writer. And honourary secretary and treasurer Mr. Ranjan Gupta, A reputed poet, and writer.

Mr Ranjit Hoskote, a well known poet and writer is the honorary secretary and treasurer at the main center in Mumbai. The PEN All India Center.Theosophy Hall 40 New Marine Lines Bombay 400 020, India

We west Bengal chapter, as an independent unit, had sheltered , published and projected writers earlier for decades in a regular basis. We had a communication gap (between Mumbai and WestBengal) for long, about decades, the main two activities center in India.

At present we are in touch of each other.

From this year, we have intended to publish an annual literary issue every year. It is not yet decided what the title of the issue should be, perhaps, ‘Indian Annual PEN’ or ‘The Flowing Pen’ or something else better would be suit or entitled.

What We shall Publish
We follow the rules of International PEN org Uk.

We shall publish short stories, poems, excerpts from longer works and essays. (‘Essays' is a very broad topic and can include (but is not limited to) memoir, biography, travelogue, journalism, commentary and much more.) Longer works that may be excerpted include novels, plays or screenplays and works of nonfiction. Narrative graphic art or excerpts from graphic novels will also be considered.
We shall not publish book reviews, though essays of literary criticism are accepted. Submissions that have been previously published or that are published simultaneously elsewhere, are accepted. Publication will have preferably occurred within two years of the issue of ‘Indian Annual PEN’ for which the work is being offered. The author of a submitted work must take care to ensure that he or she holds the rights to submit the work in question, or has obtained permission to do so. This is true in the case of all submissions, but especially those that have previously been published elsewhere (in whole or in part) or that will be published in the future. Anyone submitting work of which they are not the author (e.g. a translator or someone submitting the work of a deceased writer), is likewise responsible for ensuring they have permission to do so. Please note that ‘Indian Annual PEN’ is unable to provide remuneration for any work submitted and/or published. However, we do offer contributors one complimentary copy of the magazine.
The rights to any work published will remain with the author, and may be re-published elsewhere. If a given work (excepting excerpts) is re-published elsewhere after first appearing in ‘Indian Annual PEN’, the inclusion of the following line (or similar) at the end of the text is appreciated.
This story/poem/essay/article first appeared in ‘Indian Annual PEN’ 20XX.

We cannot publish everything we receive. You will be notified of the status of your submission within six weeks of its receipt if it is selected for our annual issue. Please include a short biographical paragraph with your submission, for the magazine's ‘Contributors' section.
Who May Submit : No matter who you are or where you reside, whether your work has never been published or whether you are internationally renowned, we would like to hear from you. You may be an aspiring writer, a professional writer or simply someone who has written something you would like to share.

Writing Guidelines : Languages and style Submissions are accepted in any Indian language or in English, whether written directly in one of these languages or translated from another language. No accompanying translations of a single submission will be published.
Except Bengali language, all writing should be typed, edited, correct spelling and above all it should be ready for press. Our magazine team will go through the offered matter and send for publication. India has a lot vernacular language or different state has different language, we are unable to edit any writing except Bengali. All entry should be readable, clearly written or typed.

Length and number of submissions : Submissions should be no longer than 2,500 words. Exceptions can be made; if you are worried about this, please contact the editor. A submission may require editing. In some cases it will be edited and sent back to the writer for approval; in others, the writer may be asked to edit it himself or herself. Multiple submissions from a single writer are encouraged. However, please do not send more than two stories or four poems. Only one work per author will be published.

How To Submit : We prefer submissions by post or hand to hand. For email submission, Please send to, as a Microsoft Word attachment with no graphics, photographs or illustrations.
The font should be Times New Roman, size 12 point, and lines should be 1.5 spaced. Indents are preferred at three spaces in from the margin. Text should be left-aligned.

In the subject box of the email, please format to read ‘Name of Writer: Title of Piece' and include a brief covering letter with a biographical paragraph and contact details. If it is not possible to send by email, please post your submission to: (our office address)
Please include a covering letter with contact details. Posted submissions will be returned only if a self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage is provided. Faxed submissions are not accepted.


Your writing should reach us before 15 March 2011, for our April annual Issue

................. Below an explanatory and added text ............

1. We are publishing an annual Issue of writers from our Unit. And it will be continued every year at the same time in the month of April.

Any writer can send his writing, anything an excellence of literature in any Indian Language. There is a guideline, long writings should be within 2500 words, we shall consider little less or more of the flow of pen. Any kind of writing such as fiction, poem, essay, and anything innovative or creative of ideas, best writing of a writer, be it published or unpublished ( with mentioning that he has the authority to send it for publishing, we don’t pay any remuneration, because it is voluntary effort to promote freedom of expression through Art and Literature) Writings, except Bengali, those people belong to different language, such as Gujrati, Hindi, Tamil and many more should send their contribution as ready to print matter (i.e. it is their responsibilities to type, edit, and print if possible they should check their writing by a professional editor). Our editorial board has the sole right and authority to select or discard the entries that is sent for the the publishing in our annual issue.
Our focal point and attempt is to bring out writers in dark, unfamiliar, new, and who has no means to express his mind, finally, everything will be checked in the light of excellence of writings in terms of contemporary literature.
No writing we send back to the writers, so writers should keep their own copy. We shall not entertain any view on anything about our publication; the decision of editorial board is final.

2.On 25th April, 2011, All writers are cordially invited, to be present at
Bangla Academy,1/1, A. J. C. Bose Road, Kolkata-700020,
ph. 033-2223 9978 (bangla academy) Time : 5pm to 9pm.
Writer who want to read their writings or want to discuss any topic should contact before 31st march 2011, via mail at present office address : To Secretary: Ranjan Gupta, 44E, Kalupara Lane, Kolkata 700031, Participants should mention all his contact information and how long it will take and what is his subject.

3. Our PEN West Bengal Review Bulletin will be continued quarterly.


All communication :
44E, Kalupara Lane, Kolkata – 700031,West Bengal. India.
Phone: +91 9433580903 (secretary), +91 9477773288 ( campaign and communication)

JOIN the writers Association The PEN Center near your home

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

PEN News: January 14, 2011‏

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WHO WE ARE WHAT WE DO HOW TO HELP WORLD VOICES ADVOCACY PRESS
PEN Monthly News
PEN AMERICA 13
The latest issue of PEN America is now available as a Kindle e-book.

[Buy now]

SAVE THE DATES
January 19:
Viva the Belarus Free Theater


January 26:
Reckoning with Torture: Sundance Film Festival


February 2-5:
PEN at AWP in Washington, D.C.


February 7:
Writing Dangerously

OPPORTUNITIES
Volunteer with the Readers & Writers Program

Orientation meetings for volunteers take place Saturday, February 19 and Sunday, February 20, at the PEN office. Learn about coaching, assessing portfolios, and other ways to support New York City high school students.
[RSVP]

Spring Internships at PEN


PEN is looking for interns to work with Membership, the Executive Office, and in Online Publications/Social Media. [More]

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Upcoming Events



Viva the Belarus Free Theater

Billy Crudup, Don DeLillo, E.L. Doctorow, Tom Stoppard, and others celebrate the Belarus Free Theater and the courage of hundreds of writers and artists targeted in the recent crackdown in Belarus. [More]




Reckoning with Torture: Sundance Film Festival

From the frontlines of the war on terror comes a one-of-a-kind performance/installation event directed for the stage by Doug Liman, featuring Paul Auster, Annie Proulx, George Saunders, Esmeralda Santiago, Sandra Cisneros, and others. [More]




PEN at AWP in Washington, D.C.

PEN will host two panels at the 2011 AWP conference: Making Peace with the Pen: How Teenage Boys Assert the Writer Within, and Celebrating 50 Years of Freedom to Write Advocacy. [More]




Writing Dangerously

How do children's and young adult authors approach controversial subjects, challenge convention, and confront the psychological risks of the creative process? Beverly Horowitz moderates a panel with Adam Gidwitz, Gary Golio, Nora Raleigh Baskin, and Rita Williams-Garcia. [More]
PEN Literary Awards



2011 Literary Awards Deadlines Approaching

The deadline for the 2011 PEN Literary Awards is approaching quickly. For new and revived awards--the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award, the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, and PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing--the deadline is March 3. For all other awards, the deadline is February 3. [More]
Advocacy News



PEN Calls on Smithsonian Institution to Reinstate Controversial Video

PEN American Center urges the Smithsonian to review the museum's decision to remove David Wojnarowicz's 1987 video "Fire in My Belly," which has been labeled "hate speech" by the Catholic League for its depiction of ants walking over a crucifix. [More]






PEN American Center | 588 Broadway, Suite 303 | New York | NY | 10012

সোফিয়া ওয়াদিয়াঃ ভারতীয় পি ই এন প্রতিষ্ঠাতা

ভারতীয় পি ই এন প্রতিষ্ঠাতা সোফিয়া ওয়াদিয়াকে আমরা অনেক ভারতীয়রাই চিনিনা জানিনা। তার কিছু পরিচিত এখানে আমি দিলাম। তিনি ভারতীয় সাহিত্যের...