Press release of December 16, 2022
Mullahs, don’t you dare
Over 150 influential writers, artists, politicians, and citizens are calling for overturning the death penalty for two Iranian women who have been sentenced to death on charges of »corruption on Earth through the promotion of homosexuality«. Amid the executions of protestors in Iran, concern has been rising over the fate of Zahra Sedighi and Elham Choubdar. MORE | VIDEO
Press release of December 13, 2022
Mullahs, don’t you dare
We call on the Islamic Republic of Iran to suspend the death penalty in Saman Yasin’s case and to drop the charges against Toomaj Salehi. »Enmity against God« and »corruption on earth« are charges for which people should no longer be allowed to die in the 21st century. (…) As rappers, the two artists work with the word. Because of their free word, their lives are under threat. They are our colleagues. Now they are honorary members of PEN Berlin – harming Toomaj Salehi and Saman Yasin would be an unforgivable crime. MORE
Press release of December 5, 2022
Congress and general meeting
Introduced by Daniel Kehlmann, PEN America President Ayad Akhtar gave the keynote address at Festsaal Kreuzberg. Akhtar criticized that »a climate of digital intimidation« is spreading in the U.S. and with it the fear of speaking freely or even thinking freely. On the initiative of Ralf Bönt PEN Berlin has launched the donation campaign »Fire trucks for Kharkiv«. MORE
Press release of November 16, 2022
Congress: The Trick is to Keep talking
We promised – after our much-noticed foundation in June 2022, the association law is now followed by the content. The keynote speech will be given by Ayad Akhtar, playwright, author and President of PEN America. Other participants: Eva Menasse, Adriana Altaras, Konstantin Küspert, Jo Lendle, Jackie Thomae, Simone Buchholz, Ursula Krechel, Tanja Maljartschuk, Khuè Pham, Meral Simsek, Herbert Wiesner. Michel Friedman, Aladin El-Mafaalani, Jan Fleischhauer, Karen Köhler, Manja Präkels and Ijoma Mangold. MORE
Press release of November 14, 2022
Talking about Iran, talking with Chelsea Manning
We would like to draw your attention to two events next week in Berlin: Azadî in Progress. Revolution in Iran, LGBT+ and what the rest of the world can do. The panelists: Shadi Amin, Bijan Djir-Sarai, Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg, Julia Franck, Hengameh Yaghoobifarah, moderated by Ronya Othmann.
And: Readme. Chelsea Manning in conversation. Moderated by: Aron Boks and Ruth Fuentes. MORE
Press release of October 14, 2022
Maybe not that bad: Program at the Frankfurt Book Fair
We would like to draw particular attention to the panel with Omid Nouripour and Natalie Amiri, among others, as well as the discussion with Peace Prize winner Serhij Zhadan, Claudia Roth and Eva Menasse. There will be readings and other panels at our stand, among others with Dmitry Glukhovsky, Michel Friedman, Luisa Neubauer, Burhan Sönmez and Markus N. Beeko. MORE
Press release of September 18, 2022
PEN Berlin continues to grow – with Meral Simsek
PEN Berlin elected over ninety new colleagues at its first online meeting last Saturday and now has 463 members. The new members include the well-known writers Adriana Altaras, Jackie Thomae, Vea Kaiser and Maxi Obexer as well as the writers Ulrich Peltzer, Fridolin Schley, Wolfgang Hegewald, Jonas Lüscher, Büchner Prize winner Martin Mosebach and the President of the German Academy for Language and Poetry, Ernst Osterkamp. MORE
Press release of September 7, 2022
An Evening for Julian Assange
»I have never seen a group of democratic states come together to deliberately isolate, demonise and disrespect a single individual for so long« (UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer, on Julian Assange). (…) That’s why PEN Berlin is organizing an evening for its honorary member Julian Assange. Because journalism is not a crime. MORE
Press release of August 23, 2022
Russia: Natalia Sivokhina sentenced
Our colleague Natalia Sivokhina, Director of the PEN Center St. Petersburg, Russia, was arrested and taken to the police station. There she was accused of having degraded the Russian armed forces on social media. (…) The accusations are absurd: How could the demand for peaceful coexistence and renunciation of unilateral violence diminish the army? MORE
Press release of August 18, 2022
Words against Violence: An evening for Salman Rushdie
PEN Berlin and the Berliner Ensemble have organized a reading at short notice as a convalescent salute to Salman Rushdie, one of the greatest writers of our time. As a sign of resistance against fanaticism and violence, together with the audience, with his readers. Like no other writer of his generation, Rushdie had to fight for decades for his personal and artistic freedom. What often comes across as wooden and routine in our world – talking about the freedom of speech – sounds sensual and alive in his words. MORE
Press release of July 20, 2022
Turkey: Persecuted author Meral Simsek
PEN Berlin is happy to welcome Turkish-Kurdish writer and poet Meral Şimşek to Germany. We would like to thank all the people and institutions who have assisted in this outcome, in particular Nancy Faeser and the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Klaus Lederer and the Berlin Senate Department for Culture. (…) Although Meral Simsek was acquitted of the charge of »membership in a terrorist organization« in the first instance, the public prosecutor’s office continues to demand fifteen years in prison in the appeal proceedings. MORE
Press release of June 24, 2022
Zimbabwe: Trial of Tsitsi Dangarembga
PEN-Berlin expresses its solidarity with its member Tsitsi Dangarembga. We call on the anti-corruption court in Harare (Zimbabwe) to immediately drop the case against the writer Dangarembga and the co-accused journalist Julie Barnes. The accusations lack any legal basis and serve no other purpose but to repress and unsettle the two authors. MORE
Press release of June 17, 2022
UK: Extradition of Julian Assange
PEN Berlin is shocked by British Home Secretary Priti Patel’s decision to extradite Julian Assange to the US. We urge the German government to work for his immediate release, and to offer him political asylum. All the government needs to do is to keep the promises made before the last general election. (…) In this sense, Julian Assange is the Dreyfus of the 21st century. We will do our utmost to protect freedom of the press and freedom. MORE
Press release of June 13, 2022
PEN Berlin founded. New: Wallraff, Sorokin, Bachér
On Friday, 10th of June 2022, PEN Berlin was legally founded as an association under German law in the Literaturhaus Berlin. Some 360 authors, translators and publicists joined the new association as founding members. Since the first public announcement of the new writers’ association last Tuesday, more than a hundred authors writing in German or living in Germany have added their support, including Ingrid Bachér, Bora Cosic, Günter Wallraff, Ronja von Rönne, Sven Regener, Nicole Seifert, and Vladimir Sorokin. MORE
Press release of June 7, 2022
PEN Berlin. We stand by our word
We want a new PEN. A contemporary and diverse PEN, that brings together writers and translators of all literary and journalistic genres writing in German or living in the German-speaking countries. A PEN run by and for colleagues who stand up for freedom of expression and open discourse, without presidents and other titles, with gender-equal board. MORE