Nice one: PEN Berlin at the 2025 Frankfurt Book Fair

PEN Berlin is already presenting its fourth program at the Frankfurt Book Fair. We have the honor again of opening the main stage of the Frankfurt Book Fair with a panel discussion. Under the title “Literature Today: Can We Do Without It?”, writers Felicitas Hoppe, Marko Martin, Mithu Sanyal, and publisher Helge Malchow will join PEN Berlin spokesperson Thea Dorn.

We warmly invite you to this panel on the Center Stage (Hall 4.1), as well as to the eight additional events taking place at the PEN Berlin booth (3.1 H34). Among those appearing there are Prix Goncourt winner Kamel Daoud, sociologist Harald Welzer, psychologist Stephan Grünewald, and PEN Berlin founding members Christian Berkel and Michel Friedman. PROGRAM OVERVIEW

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On Susanne Dagen: Either don’t invite, or take the fallout — but don’t disinvite

Nobody is obliged to invite Susanne Dagen. But if an organiser decides to do so, as in the case of the Landau »Denkfest« with Hamed Abdel-Samad, Meron Mendel, Susan Neiman and many others, then one can expect them to stand by this invitation. Last week, PEN Berlin’s press release on the disinvitation of Michel Friedman in Klütz stated: »Organisers are responsible for the safety of their guests and audience members. If there are justified security concerns about a guest or topic, these must be taken seriously. However, it is then the state’s responsibility to ensure everyone’s safety. Concerns about possible disturbances from any side can never be an argument for cancelling an event«. This always applies, including in this case. MORE

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On Chefket’s disinvitation: Are you now the Federal Minister of Jerseys, Mr. Weimer?

Four questions for Jan Böhmermann, Chefket, House of World Cultures, and Wolfram Weimer: Mr Weimer, your announcement to »broaden the corridors (…) of what can be said, explored and represented instead of narrowing them« sounded good. But do you only mean freedom of expression as the freedom to represent the opinion of the Minister of State for Culture? As you are aware, the state in Germany promotes the autonomy of art and cultural institutions. »Why is a politician interfering in the programming of a literary centre?« Michel Friedman asked the day before yesterday in Klütz. Absolutely correct, Mr. Weimer, you are more than welcome to apply this question to yourself. Or are you now the Federal Minister of Jerseys? MORE

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Honorary Member of PEN Berlin: We mourn the passing of Georg Stefan Troller

Georg Stefan Troller passed away on Saturday morning in Paris, aged 103. An emigrant, chronicler and humanist, Troller had been an honorary member of PEN Berlin since 2023, for whom freedom of speech and human dignity were the measure of all things. For PEN Berlin, Georg Stefan Troller remains a role model as an artist of conversation, a defender of open society, a fighter against fascism and anti-Semitism, and a witness to a century in which freedom of speech was lost and regained several times. His work reminds us that freedom is not merely a state of being, but also an attitude and imperative. It exemplifies the idea that language can do more than just state facts; it can also save, preserve and transform. MORE

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Thea Dorn about Klütz: »Nothing has changed for us«

»We are surprised by the question of whether the rally will go ahead despite the mayor’s resignation. PEN Berlin has made it clear what the rally is against and what it stands for. Above all, it is against the bad habit of cancelling and counter-cancelling, and it stands for the autonomy of culture. We never called for his resignation; in fact, we invited Mr Mevius to the rally. Furthermore, this was never just about Klütz and Michel Friedman, but about broader trends. “The city of Klütz’s decision to disinvite Michel Friedman, which prompted us to organise Monday’s rally, remains unchanged by the announced resignation of Mayor Jürgen Mevius«, explains PEN Berlin spokesperson Thea Dorn.

 

Rally in Klütz: »Violence begins where talking ends«

»The decision to disinvite our founding member Michel Friedman from the Uwe Johnson Literature House in Klütz (Mecklenburg) has caused irritation – including for us. It is regrettable that the event planned for October 2026 has been cancelled. This event was to mark the 120th birthday of Hannah Arendt. This creates an impression that no one who cares about democracy, art, or civilised exchange would want. That is why we are calling for a rally on 29 September at 5 p.m. at the market square in Klütz. […] We cannot judge which of the publicly stated reasons led to Michel Friedman’s disinvitation and to what extent. That is why we are upholding four principles, which the rally in Klütz will also advocate.« MORE

 

 

Wolodymyr Jermolenko:»This is a culture of ›spite‹«

»Today, Europe is helping Ukraine, but Ukraine is also helping Europe. Ukraine is helping Europe to rediscover its purpose of resisting tyranny. This is the origin of the European Union. Europe itself was once imperialistic and knows what it means to be on the side of evil, and then to switch to the side of good. It knows what it means to be a tyrant and to overcome tyranny. A hero is someone who stands up to someone stronger than themselves. Their belief in the impossible carries them forward. For us, the word »hero« is no longer melodramatic. It has become pragmatic. We challenge that which seems stronger than us. We gain strength by achieving what was once thought impossible. That is why we say: Honour Ukraine. Honour the heroes.« WHOLE SPEECH

 

Deniz Yücel at the solidarity evening for Ukraine: »We are not neutral«

In the case of Borchert and most writers of his generation, one can understand from their biographies why their engagement with National Socialism revolved around the themes of war, dictatorship and resistance. However, I believe that the most significant literary references regarding the key lessons to be learned from the Nazi regime […] can be found primarily in the works of Paul Celan and Nelly Sachs rather than in those of Wolfgang Borchert, Siegfried Lenz or Günter Grass. The men from Smolensk or Kharkiv who liberated Auschwitz and the men from New York or Alabama who liberated Buchenwald did not follow Borchert’s call to say »no«. Instead, they closed the »ingeniously conceived dwellings of death« (Sachs) and, at great sacrifice, put an end to the work of the »master from Germany« (Celan) by force of arms. WHOLE SPEECH

 

On the anniversary of the protests in Iran: Mr. Dobrindt, would you reject the Dalai Lama?

Today marks the third anniversary of the start of the protest against the Islamist dictatorship in Iran. (…) In the initial period after the uprising was crushed, the German government issued visas to particularly vulnerable Iranian opposition figures without bureaucratic red tape; PEN Berlin was also able to bring several persecuted colleagues to safety in Germany with the support of the German authorities. However, in practice, entry permits under Section 22 of the Residence Act are no longer being issued – neither for Iranian citizens nor for others. MORE

 

Lahav Shani disinvited: The right to remain silent

PEN Berlin criticizes the decision to disinvite Israeli conductor Lahav Shani from the Flanders Festival Ghent, in particular the reasoning that he had not provided »sufficient clarity about his attitude to the genocidal regime in Tel Aviv«. Freedom of expression is not only the right to express oneself freely and without fear of reprisals, but also the right not to express oneself if one wishes. Forcing people to confess is a characteristic of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. Demanding confessions from artists violates the fundamental right to freedom of expression and disregards the principle of separation between art and artists.« MORE

 

War in Gaza: PEN Berlin calls for greater protection for journalists

Press release: On Monday, twenty people, including five journalists working for international media were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Journalists are protected under international law. They are not a party to the conflict. Their job is to inform the public. PEN Berlin spokesperson Deniz Yücel said: »This protection only applies to the extent that they are actually acting as journalists. But it applies regardless of their political views. Freedom of the press is indivisible.« MORE

 

Interview with Volodymyr Yermolenko: 

WELT, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Philosopher and President of PEN Ukraine in conversation with Deniz Yücel, 21 August 2025: »rump will be disappointed by Putin again and then say: ›I rolled out the red carpet for you, and you betrayed me. So take these sanctions, you bloody bastard.‹ Then they’ll be friends again, then enemies again.« WHOLE INTERVIEW (in German)

On 19 September at 7.30pm, Volodymyr Yermolenko will deliver the keynote speech at our solidarity evening for Ukraine, organised in collaboration with the International Literature Festival Berlin. MORE about the program and the guests

 

On the gender-neutral language ban:
Well done, Mr. Minister! But gender-inclusive language alone is not enough

Press release: About Wolfram Weimer’s recommendation to refrain from using gender-neutral language in publicly funded institutions: PEN Berlin recommends not focusing solely on language, but rather taking a closer look at the content presented in museums and theatres. »The best argument for gender-neutral language has always seemed to me to be the gasping for breath it triggers in its opponents«, said PEN Berlin spokesperson Deniz Yücel. »Rarely has this argument been so brilliantly confirmed as now by the Minister of State for Culture.« MORE

 

 

Georg Büchner Prize goes to Ursula Krechel

We warmly congratulate Ursula Krechel, co-founder of PEN Berlin and honorary president of the hearts, on being awarded the Georg Büchner Prize. »And here we are: a bunch of volunteers with a profession our parents warned us against.« (From her speech at the PEN Berlin Congress 2023). FULL SPEECH (in German)

 

On the Federal »Action Day« by BKA: Yes, even hate can be a legitimate opinion

Press release: The Federal Criminal Police Office carried out its 12th »Action Day to Combat Criminal Hate Postings« on June 25, 2025. This resulted in over 180 »police measures«, including 65 house searches.

»The task of the investigating authorities is to prosecute crimes within the framework of the law and in accordance with the constitution. It is not their job to organise ›action days‹ or ›send a message‹. That is what the police do in authoritarian regimes: they send messages to intimidate and deter.« MORE

 

 

 

 

Algeria:Boualem Sansal’s five-year prison sentence confirmed

Press release: Today, the Court of Appeal in Algiers confirmed the five-year prison sentence without parole handed down to French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal. This upholds the sentence issued on 27 March 2025. PEN Berlin and the German Publishers and Booksellers Association once again condemn this sentence in the strongest possible terms. […] We call on Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to show a gesture of humanity and release Boualem Sansal as part of the pardons traditionally granted on Algeria’s national holiday on 5 July. MORE

 

 

 

Rights organizations call on Egypt: End repression against Basma Mostafa

We, the undersigned organizations, call on the Egyptian government to immediately end its campaign of transnational repression targeting exiled Egyptian journalists. We specifically urge the government to respond to the UN report detailing the harassment and surveillance of Egyptian investigative journalist Basma Mostafa, currently residing in Germany. We further urge German authorities to ensure her safety and uphold their international obligations to protect freedom of expression. READ MORE

 

 

 

 

Iran: Concerns by arrest of Danial Moghaddam

Press release: PEN Berlin is deeply concerned about the re-arrest of rapper Daniel Moghaddam by the Islamic Republic of Iran. […] Moghaddam has repeatedly criticised the mullah regime in his songs and videos, and has spoken out in support of families whose relatives were killed in the »Woman, Life, Freedom« protests in 2022. »The regime is now cracking down even more brutally on its own people«, said Daniela Sepehri, PEN Berlin board member. MORE.

 

 

 

 

Turkey: Protest against the arrest of Fatih Altayli

Press release: The Turkish regime has now targeted a journalist who has worked for major media outlets for a long time, as long as critical journalism was still possible. PEN Berlin spokesperson Deniz Yücel said: »The specific accusation is, at the very least, laughable. “Threatening” the president. The man who controls the entire state, including the judiciary, is accusing a journalist, who has spent his entire 43-year career with no means other than the power of his words at his disposal, of “threatening” him.« MORE.

 

 

 

 

PEN Berlin: Lucy Fricke, Ijoma Mangold and Daniela Sepehri join the board

Press release: At an extraordinary General Assembly on Sunday, PEN Berlin filled vacancies on its eleven-member board and admitted new members. Newly elected to the board are writer Lucy Fricke (»Töchter«), poetry slammer and human rights activist Daniela Sepehri, and journalist and author Ijoma Mangold, writer for Die Zeit.

Among the 35 new members are … MORE.

 

 

 

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“>Major fundraising campaign for independent media in Turkey:
Journalism is not a crime. And not for nothing.

»Since Ekrem Imamoğlu’s arrest, independent media outlets have come under even greater pressure, facing fines, arrests and intimidation. To make matters worse, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, recently changed its algorithms so that critical, independent media no longer appear on Google News. This has resulted in a significant loss of income, further threatening the existence of independent media outlets (…) We would like to take this opportunity to contribute to the support of independent media in Turkey — providing tangible support that goes beyond the purely symbolic.« 
Fundraising campaign by PEN Berlin to support independent media outlets in Turkey with the support of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, the Federal Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers, the German Journalists’ Association, the German Journalists’ Union, the KulturForum TurkeyGermany, the Media Association of the Free Press, Reporters Without Borders, the taz Panter Foundation and the ver.di trade union. MORE | TÜRKÇE

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Iran: Poet Peyman Farahavar sentenced to death

Press release: PEN Berlin is deeply shocked by the death sentence passed on the poet Peyman Farahavar from the province of Gilan in Iran. n his political poems, Peyman Farahavar campaigns for environmental protection and social justice. He criticises deforestation, illegal land sales, and the expulsion of local farmers from the province of Gilan by state measures. »The death sentence against a poet who has done nothing but denounce environmental destruction and corruption exposes the Iranian power apparatus for what it is: a system of organised barbarism«, said PEN Berlin spokesperson Deniz Yücel. MORE

 

taz: Death threats against journalist Nicholas Potter

Press release: Threats against taz journalist Nicholas Potter have reached a new level of escalation. […] »There are many things that can and must be discussed, and we are always in favour of interpreting the limits of freedom of expression as broadly as possible«, said Deniz Yücel. But when it comes to death threats, there is nothing to discuss. Criticism is not a crime, but incitement to murder is. We expect pro-Palestinian voices to draw the same line and condemn the vicious campaign against Nicholas Potter. And we expect the Berlin security authorities to continue to do everything in their power to ensure Nicholas Potter’s safety and to investigate the perpetrators. Our solidarity goes out to our colleague who has been the target of hostility. Nicholas, you are not alone. MORE

 

PEN International: 57th International Writers’ Meeting

We put our heads together at the PEN International Writers for Peace Committee Meeting in Bled. Four intense days with colleagues from all over the world discussing the role of literature in times of climate crisis and war.

Many thanks to the Slovenian PEN centre for their wonderful hospitality and to all the PEN centres for the exchange!

 

 

 

Thea Dorn on DLF: »A botched, undignified process«

Philosopher Omri Boehm was due to speak at the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp, but was then disinvited. Thea Dorn, spokesperson for PEN Berlin, sees this as a new quality of disinvitation: »Up to now, these cases of disinvitation have tended to take the form of groups – sometimes organised online, as in the case of Thilo Mischke – putting pressure on institutions, which then suddenly get cold feet and fall over. But of course it takes on a new quality when this pressure comes from governments that are democratically elected, as in Israel and the United States, but […] have autocratic tendencies. When these governments start to exert pressure, then of course it becomes much more tricky.« LINK

Omri Boehm’s speech at the Buchenwald Memorial: Disinvitationitis strikes again

Press release: »Ludicrous« is not the worst term to describe the whole process. From PEN Berlin’s point of view, Omri Boehm would have been an eminently suitable speaker for the commemoration. Now the Israeli ambassador to Germany is free to see things differently. But it shows a rather idiosyncratic understanding of his office if Ron Prosor sees himself as a kind of arbiter of German remembrance culture, who, as he announced via dpa, is »proud to show the red card« to forms of Holocaust remembrance that do not suit him or the Netanyahu government. MORE

 

 

Magazine release: »manuskripte« with texts by Mahtab Yaghma

Our scholarship holder, the Iranian poet Mahtab Yaghma, inaugurates a new collaboration for texts by writers in exile between the Graz literary magazine and PEN Berlin with her haunting poems in »manuskripte« no. 247. Mahtab Yaghma’s poems have been translated into German by the writer Ali Aliabdollahi. Special thanks go to Andreas Unterweger, the editor of manuskripte, for his unwavering commitment in shaping this cooperation. LINK

 

 

Coalition agreement: »Do not create a truth law if you do not want a Ministry of Truth«

Press release: The CDU/CSU and SPD are planning laws that would unduly restrict the fundamental right to freedom of speech. This applies to the passage in the coalition agreement which states that they want to ›combat hatred and agitation even more intensively‹ and to tighten up the criminal offence of ›incitement to hatred‹. It also refers to the planned creation of a new offence of »information manipulation«. […] But in an open society, truth is always subject to social debate, however painful. ›Do not create a truth law if you do not want a Ministry of Truth‹, said Deniz Yücel.« MORE

 

 

Algeria: »Writer Boualem Sansal sentenced to prison«

3Sat, Kulturzeit, report by Lotar Schüler, 27 March 2025: »The verdict is in. Five years in prison for the Algerian-French writer Boualem Sansal. Claudia Roth, Minister of State for Culture and the Media: “Our common demand must now be: the immediate and unconditional release of a great writer and intellectual.” Thea Dorn: “It is very important that we continue to make the public aware of the case […] Because the first thing that happens in such a system is that they tell the prisoner: ‘You have been forgotten, no one is interested in you anymore, you can rot here with us’.”« LINK

 

 

Algeria: Five years in prison for Boualem Sansal

Press release: The verdict in the swift trial of the Algerian-French writer Boualem Sansal was announced today by the criminal court in Dar El Beïda, near Algiers. Sansal was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 500,000 Algerian dinars (around 3,500 euros). PEN Berlin strongly condemns the trial and sentence and calls for the immediate release of the 80-year-old writer. »According to the current coalition negotiations, Algeria is to be declared a safe third country«, said Deniz Yücel, spokesperson for PEN Berlin. »Algeria is not safe, least of all for people who dare to criticise those in power.« MORE

 

 

Algeria: Boualem Sansal faces ten years in prison

Press release: A swift trial against the Algerian-French writer Boualem Sansal began today at the criminal court in Dar El Beida near Algiers. The public prosecutor demanded a ten-year prison sentence for the 80-year-old writer, who has been awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. Sansal had to be represented by a court-appointed defence lawyer. The verdict is expected on 27 March. Deniz Yücel, spokesperson for PEN Berlin, said: »What we are witnessing here is a judicial farce. We are concerned that the verdict has already been determined before this swift trial began. This is how rogue states act.«MORE

3sat Kulturzeit, report by Luis Babst, March 4, 2025: »Tuesday noon at the International Tourism Fair in Berlin. Members of the PEN Berlin writers’ association are preparing for a protest: Freedom for Boualem Sansal. “It is unacceptable that a gravely ill, 80-year-old man has now been imprisoned for four months without charge. His French lawyer is denied access to his case files, he is denied visits and entry to Algeria is blocked. This is the behaviour of rogue states. […] There’s a real danger that he might die in prison soon”, said PEN Berlin spokesperson Thea Dorn.« LINK

 

 

 

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Israel: We Mourn the Loss of Oded Lifshitz

Although forensic confirmation is still awaited, it now seems tragically certain: The kidnapped Israeli journalist Oded Lifshitz is dead. On Thursday 20 February 2025, Hamas handed over his body along with those of three other hostages: Shiri Bibas and her two sons, Ariel and Kfir. Lifshitz was kidnapped along with his wife, Yocheved, during the Hamas attack on the 7th of October, 2023. Yocheved was released in October 2023. In our resolution of 8 December 2024 On the Fate of Journalist Oded Lifshitz, we had called for a sign of life: »Lifshitz was a journalist for the labor newspaper Al-HaMishmar. After the Six-Day War in 1967, he opposed the occupation of territories outside the 1949 armistice lines. Very often, Oded Lifshitz picked up Palestinians at the Gaza border to drive them to Israeli hospitals, including just two weeks before his abduction on October 7, 2023.« Our deepest condolences to the wife and family of Oded Lifshitz as well as to the Bibas family.

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Iran: Saman Yasin arrived in Berlin

Press release: The rapper Saman Yasin, who comes from the Kurdish part of Iran, had been imprisoned since October 2022 for writing lyrics critical of the regime. In connection with the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests, Yasin was accused of ‘waging war against God’ and sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court in a show trial. […] Joachim Helfer, board member of PEN Berlin, said: »Saman Yasin is finally free, and our other Iranian honorary member Toomaj Salehi has been free since December 2024. This is probably a consequence of the critical situation in which the Islamic Republic of Iran currently finds itself. But it also shows that international solidarity and commitment to human rights can make a difference.« MORE

 

 

Uganda: Freedom for Eron Kiiza

Press release: On 7 January, the well-known Ugandan lawyer and poet Eron Kiiza was initially prevented from taking his seat in the military court in Kampala as the lawyer for Kizza Besigye, the opposition’s multiple presidential candidate. After protesting, he was forcibly arrested, taken away and shortly afterwards, now in the defendants’ cage, sentenced to nine months in prison for alleged contempt of court. […] Joachim Helfer, board member of PEN Berlin, said: “A corrupt regime like Uganda’s will try to suppress freedom of expression as well as an independent judiciary. The two go hand in hand and will ultimately prevail everywhere, including in Uganda.”« MORE

 

 

Thea Dorn on DLF: »Democracy is arduous«

Discussion with Korbinian Frenzel, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, 18 December 2024: »It sounds a little bit as if there were two extremist camps, and in fact that’s really not the case. This proposal, which I also felt was pro-Palestinian, was endorsed by colleagues including Eva Menasse, Daniel Kehlmann and Omri Boehm; It’s grotesque to make extremists out of them. […] I was talking about the project, we all have to see how we can awaken the citizen in ourselves, this is my attempt to do that. And yes, it’s arduous, but I don’t want to complain about it, because it’s a misconception to think that democracy is effortless or easy. But it’s about keeping your nerve, trying not to open up unnecessary fronts and believing that you can keep talking to each other. And here I am, even though it may not have sounded that way in the media, confident that this will continue to be possible at PEN Berlin.« LINK und AUDIO

Deniz Yücel in the SZ: »Maybe a clash had to happen«

Interview by Jens-Christian Rabe, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 13 December 2014: »To me, resolutions are not the main mission of PEN Berlin. As a board we thought: OK, now there are draft resolutions, even though everyone knows that no association resolution can influence the course of the world. But at least for the German discussion it could be a gain if we could manage to unite both sides on at least one issue. There is an opportunity here that no one in Germany except PEN Berlin has: […] the chance for a dialogue between people who are not yet in dialogue with each other. I know that sounds ambitious, but before the resolutions, the General Assembly and all that, we had a chance that we unfortunately missed – especially me, as one in charge. And maybe we still have that chance, in spite of everything. There is no alternative. And maybe a clash had to happen in order for things to move forward in a more constructive way.« WHOLE INTERVIEW (in English)

Open letter from PEN Berlin members: »We are here to stay«

»What is happening at PEN Berlin at the moment is a direct reflection of the turmoil in society. In their despair over the state of the world, reasonable and intelligent people are sinking into the ‘narcissism of small differences’ (Sigmund Freud) […] The public verbal sparring and opinion wars – which are at least questionable in view of the mass killing and dying in many parts of the world – are, however, likely to damage this young association, in which an incredible amount of voluntary work is being done. We would therefore like to remind you of the reasons for its creation: on the one hand, as a human rights organisation to protect persecuted colleagues and, on the other, as a platform that is as open as possible to the many debates that concern us all. A great deal has been achieved in just two and a half years, although of course, as everywhere, mistakes have been made.« WHOLE LETTER (in English)

Simone Buchholz on the work at PEN Berlin: »Got the power? Nah, come on«

taz, 11 December 2024: »It’s satisfying to be out at 2 a.m. with a colleague who, if she hadn’t been in Berlin with her two sons, would be in prison for eight years. But she isn’t. She is here, she has a flat, she has recently been accepted into the artists’ social security system and thus into the German health system (which is important if you have experience of fleeing and the powerful were not squeamish), and she can stand on a bench in a shabby Hamburg bar, smoking and drinking beer and singing if she wants to. That, and only that, is damaged when heads are bashed in because of resolutions, because of “spiritual and moral hygiene“.« LINK (in German)

 

 

For the protection of writers and journalists in the current Middle East conflict

Resolution of the General Assembly of PEN Berlin, 8 Dezember 2024: »We are deeply concerned about how many writers, journalists and intellectuals have been killed since the beginning of the war in Gaza, how many cultural institutions, educational centres and universities have been destroyed […]. We also condemn the murder of Israeli journalists in the Hamas terror attack. This war would not have started if Hamas had not attacked Israel on 7 October and carried out a terrorist massacre. […] We call on the German government to do everything in its power to bring about a ceasefire. We mourn for all the innocent victims of this conflict.« WHOLE RESOLUTION

On the fate of journalist Oded Lifshitz

Resolution of the General Assembly of PEN Berlin, 8 Dezember 2024: »PEN Berlin calls upon the kidnappers in Gaza to send a sign of life from Oded Lifshitz to his family and the public in Israel and the world, to provide him with the necessary medical care, and to release him immediately. Oded Lifshitz was attacked by terrorists on October 7, 2023, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, which he co-founded in 1955. He was injured by at least a gunshot to the hand and was unconscious when he was abducted to Gaza. His wife, Yocheved Lifshitz, was also taken to Gaza separately and was released on October 23. Oded Lifshitz was last seen alive by other hostages in November 2023, although in alarming health condition. Nothing has been known about him since then.« WHOLE RESOLUTION

Deniz Yücel on the cancellation of Benny Morris: »That’s cowardice«

On the cancellation of Israeli historian Benny Morris by the University of Leipzig: “To put it in a nutshell, this is cowardice. It is also an inability to deal with criticism. And it cannot be said often enough: this is a violation of academic freedom that the university has brought upon itself, because its role should not have been to enter into a discussion with Benny Morris or his critics, but to guarantee academic freedom, if necessary with the help of personnel trained to enforce the house rules even in a brawl. Interview with Hanno Griess, MDR Aktuell, 5 December 2024. LINK

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Book Release: »Be Beside Me and See What Has Happened to Me«

Premiere in Berlin: The book »Be Beside Me and See What Has Happened to Me«, edited by The Poetry Project and PEN Berlin, is available for purchase from publisher Verbrecher Verlag and can be delivered anywhere as of today.

In it, 32 poets write about their experiences while fleeing, how their relationship to their old homeland has changed, and how they, each and every one of them, want to arrive in Germany. The book is available in German as well as in the original languages: Arabic, Kurdish, Farsi and Ukrainian.

In an interview, publisher Jörg Sundermeier said: ‘With volumes like this, it always sounds a bit like a charity project. (…) We were given the texts and they were amazing.’ LINK.

Book presentation: Friday, 13 December at 8 p.m. | Bookstore Buchkönigin | Hobrechtstraße 65 | Free admission | MORE

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Toomaj Salehi: Free at last!

Excellent news: Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, an honorary member of PEN Berlin, has finally been released from prison after 753 days! The news channel Iran International reported.

At the ‘On we go’ congress in November 2024, Alexandru Bulucz said on behalf of PEN Berlin: ‘In April this year, a revolutionary court sentenced Toomaj Salehi to death for his social struggle. The charge was ‘corruption on earth’ – a capital crime under Islamic law. At least he had the chance to appeal to the Supreme Court. Last June, the death sentence was overturned, but Toomaj Salehi remained in custody and faces many years in prison. We appeal to the German authorities to use all possible diplomatic channels to get Toomaj Salehi out of the country, to a safe place where no one has to apologise for wishing a fundamentalist, unjust regime to hell. MORE

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Algeria: Freedom for Boualem Sansal!

Press release of 24, November 2024: PEN Berlin calls for the immediate release of Boualem Sansal. Thea Dorn, spokesperson for PEN Berlin, said: »If it is true that in today’s Algeria a writer’s historical observations are interpreted as an attack on the sovereignty and national integrity of the state, this would not only be absurd, but a blatant attack on the human right to freedom of expression. Freedom of expression includes the right to express opinions that others may find provocative. The legitimacy of a state is not undermined by public criticism, but only by the actions of those in power. Algeria’s freedom is our colleague Boualem Sansal’s freedom!« MORE

 

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Third PEN Berlin Congress: »On we go«
Hamburg, 2 November 2024. All contributions to read and/or listen to

Etgar Keret: »What to do now?«

Introduction by Daniel Dylan Böhmer: »When I first met Etgar Keret, he was in his early thirties and was seen as a threat to Israeli literature.« TEXT and AUDIO [both in German]

Keynote speech b Etgar Keret: »It’s like, I remember that every year in our town they would come and ask my mother to take part in a memorial, a service for the Holocaust. And my mother would always say the same thing: ›I’m sorry, I’m afraid that there is some kind of mistake. I’ve been through the Holocaust. I don’t work in the Holocaust.‹ And this idea that basically the Holocaust was this mosaic, and my mom was supposed to be a pebble in it, it was something that she just did not accept. (…) For example, we would listen to Wagner in our home and when the neighbors would come, at the time it was a big thing, then the neighbors would say to my mother: ›You know, that the Nazis loved Wagner?« And my mother said: ›Yeah. And Nazis also liked Apfelstrudel. You want me not to eat Apfelstrudel?« They say: ›Yeah, but you know, Wagner himself, he was an anti-Semite.« And my mother said: ›Oh, I know. And if he was in this living room, I would have poisoned him. But I think he’s a great composer, don’t you think? I like this part…‹ (…) So, this idea of kind of owning your story, being able to hold on to that story and making the story your own, not letting people push you into their story, I think that is something that is crucial for me these days.« TEXT and AUDIO [both in English]

Eva Menasse: »Only this way – on we go«

Opening speech and farewell address: »Two and a half years ago, together with Deniz Yücel and many others, I threw myself into this mad adventure of founding a new PEN – because it was what I had missed most in Germany: an active, vibrant association of writers. A coming together of people who write – all of them individualists, often enough contrarians – yet who value their smallest common denominator, ›We can write freely and without interference in this country‹, highly enough to forge it into a strong platform. A platform that defends freedom of expression, of the arts and of academia – for everyone and in all directions – and that, when necessary, organises controversial, difficult, and delicate debates itself. A platform broad and solid enough to help at least some of those colleagues who, in their own countries, are persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, or forced into exile for nothing more than what they wrote or said.« TEXT und AUDIO [German]

Ivan Krastev and Fintan O’Toole: »That’s the Mope-Syndrom − Most Oppressed People Ever«

»Handbook to the end of the world«: The Bulgarian political scientist Ivan Krastev and the Irish commentator Fintan O’Toole in talk with Eva Menasse:
O’Toole: »It’s much more to do, particularly, I would say, particularly on the Trump side, about a kind of sense of sticking it to the people we really hate. That becomes the main driving force and develops its own logic: they did this to us, so we have to do it back to them. (…) Somebody in Belfast came up with this idea of what they called Mope Syndrome. Mope is the English word for feeling sorry for yourself. Mope Syndrome also stands for M.O.P.E. – Most Oppressed People Ever..« 
Krastev: »I was re-reading all the interesting stuff written just after the end of the Cold War. And paradoxically, the most interesting book came neither from Huntington nor Fukuyama, but from a German author – Enzensberger’s ›Civil War‹, written in 1993. If you re-read it now, you’ll be shocked.« AUDIO [English]

Stella Nyanzi: »Uganda is an open-air prison«

»Uganda: Gay persecution as reason of state?«: The Ugandan anthropologist and poet ugandische Anthropologin und Lyrikerin Stella Nyanzi in talk with Sophie Sumburane: »I think a lot of us have heard about the anti-homosexuality law in Uganda, yes? (…) We know about the death penalty? And we know about life imprisonment? (…) And we know there are prison sentences, and we know there are monetary fines, and we know there is healing of the mind – or reconstruction of personality, psychotherapy. But what a lot of people do not know is perhaps what pertains to writers and authors and journalists – which is around freedom of expression. (…) There is a section of the law against promotion of homosexuality, and one of the things that it penalizes for up to twenty years in prison is production of knowledge and information about homosexuality. (…) While the criminalization of homosexuality is terrible – the discrimination against same-sex-loving people is terrible – to criminalize production of knowledge is unacceptable.« AUDIO [English]

Philipp Ruch, David Werdermann & The Audience: »Ban the Nazis?«

Impulse talks by author Philipp Ruch and lawyer David Werdermann, followed by audience debate.
Ruch: »The AfD doesn’t harbor ›fantasies of violence‹. What it demands and promises are state crimes. (…) Even though Walter Lübcke was shot by an AfD campaign aide. Even though in Thuringia the house of a party colleague of the chancellor is set on fire, Scholz, Olaf, recommends as a prescription against the AfD: ›Go vote‹. Well, people did vote. And how.« TEXT and AUDIO [both in German]
Werdermann: »Fascism is a crime. But the advocacy of fascism is an opinion. And as such, it must not be prohibited because of its content. (…) Bans are, in many cases, not only questionable in terms of democratic theory and the law, but also strategically unwise. The situation is serious, but that’s no reason to throw democratic principles overboard.« TEXT und AUDIO [both in German]
Audience: »We can’t escape the dialectic that, by invoking open debate, we may in fact be working toward its abolition. Still, I see the only viable course of action as acting like Philipp Ruch – and placing the memorial, as a model, in front of Höcke’s door. If the AfD no longer existed, Ruch couldn’t do that anymore. That’s why I’m against a ban.« AUDIO [German]

Culture in Eastern Germany: »Saxony, a land of culture, is on the verge of collapse«

Panel »Culture under pressure in the East« with: Daniel Ris (Theatre Senftenberg), Daniel Morgenroth (Theatre Görlitz) Iris Helbing (Department of Culture), and Juliana Socher (Reading Stage Pirna), moderated by Linn Penelope Rieger (writer):
Morgenroth: »I must bring the sad news that Saxony, a land of culture, is on the verge of collapse.«
Socher: »For us, the pressure comes from a different direction: from the fact that, as the ›Literary Conspiracy‹, we have committed ourselves to making culture for everyone – in a city that has officially declared it wants to do nothing for everyone, with a mayor who doesn’t want to make politics for everyone.«
Helbing: »The climate has changed. (…) ›Jew‹ has once again become an insult; teenagers giving the Hitler salute in the schoolyard has become completely normal; friends of mine who are Muslim are constantly harassed when they wear a headscarf (…). It’s not a good climate, and it frightens me.«
Ris: »We also invite AfD voters, we exclude no one. But we say just as loudly what we have hanging on the door: no place for antisemitism, racism, or homophobia.« AUDIO [German]

Panel discussion on inner censorship: »I turned off the internet«

The writers Simone Buchholz, Dana Grigorcea, Jovana Reisinger, and Alain Claude Sulzer in talk with Jan Ehlert:
Reisinger: »Perhaps a certain small pair of scissors isn’t all that bad, because you can achieve a lot when you free yourself from stereotypes and clichés.«
Sulzer: »A work of fiction that relies on footnotes shouldn’t exist. The people who read it will understand why I use this word — not I, but this first-person narrator.«
Grigorcea: »People who are willing to embrace different perspectives when they read don’t react to a book with outrage. People react with outrage based on hearsay.«
Buchholz: »I turned off the internet. You can’t email me anymore unless you have my address. I’ve also switched off social media. Since then, I’ve been feeling much better — and I care a lot less.« AUDIO [German]

Writers in prison: Freedom for Pham Dong Trang, Alaa Abdel Fattah, Toomaj Salehi!

Alexandru Bulucz: »We call on the German authorities to pursue every possible diplomatic avenue to get, Toomaj Salehi out of the country, to a safe place where no one has to apologize for wishing a fundamentalist, unjust regime to hell.« Apart from the imprisoned Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi the congress also focused on the prominent blogger and writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah (introduced by Sandra Hetzl), and on the Vietnamese writer and human rights activist Pham Dong Trang (introduced by Jayrôme Robinet). TEXTS AND AUDIOS [all in German]

 

Carsten Brosda: The public sphere is not a safe space

Message of greeting from Hamburg’s Senator for Culture: »It is not possible to organize the public sphere as a safe space. It is inconceivable to believe that freedom is without danger. It became dangerous the moment people – we’re in a port city – first set sail in a small boat and left their own bay. Because then I no longer knew where the rocks in the water were. I could run aground. The freedom to do so put my life at risk. Of course, I could have stayed on land – there I couldn’t drown, true. But I also wouldn’t have discovered the world. That means I cannot claim freedom without an awareness of the risks that come with it. Therefore, I also cannot discuss the question ›Do I need something like a public sphere?‹ in a pro-and-con mode.« TEXT und AUDIO [in German]

»Etgar Keret’s incredible achievement«: Media coverage of the Congress

DLF Kultur: »Hochkarätige Gäste hatte der PEN Berlin für diesen Nachmittag eingeladen. (…) Dass der PEN Berlin jedwede Boykotte ablehnt und die Meinungsfreiheit konsequent hochhält, betonte die scheidende Sprecherin Eva Menasse in ihrer Eröffnungs- und Abschiedsrede. Nachdem den PEN Berlin soeben wieder eine Anfrage erreicht habe, sich an einem sehr vage formulierten Boykottaufruf gegen Israel zu beteiligen, sei es ihr wichtig, nochmals zu betonen.« LINK
NDR Kultur: »Die Debatte darüber, wie es um die Meinungsfreiheit im Osten bestellt ist, wurde auf einem Panel weitergeführt, das die Frage aufwarf, wie stark die Kulturszene im Osten unter Druck steht. Iris Helbig, Leiterin des Kulturamts Meiningen, bemerkt in Thüringen eine besorgniserregende Veränderung des gesellschaftlichen Klimas. (…) Daniel Morgenroth vom Theater Görlitz berichtete, dass seine Bühne nicht nur politisch, sondern auch finanziell in Bedrängnis gerät. ›Das Kulturland Sachsen steht kurz vor dem Kollaps‹, erklärt Morgenroth.« LINK

 

Süddeutsche Zeitung: »Das auffordernde Motto des Kongresses, ›So kommen wir weiter‹, nahm am Ende der Festredner noch einmal auf, der israelische Autor Etgar Keret, über den sich im Vorfeld trotz der unversöhnlichen Debatten zum Krieg in Nahost niemand aufgeregt hatte – im Gegensatz zur letztjährigen Rednerin A. L. Kennedy. (…) Keret vollbrachte das unglaubliche Kunststück, über das ›Weiterkommen‹ in Israel nach dem 7. Oktober eine Stehgreifrede zu halten, in der er die verzweifelte Lage zwischen Schock, Verteidigungsbereitschaft und Ablehnung der Gewaltmittel und der Regierung, die sie einsetzt, mit klugem Witz reflektierte. (…) Keret vollbrachte das unglaubliche Kunststück, über das ›Weiterkommen‹ in Israel nach dem 7. Oktober eine Stehgreifrede zu halten, in der er die verzweifelte Lage zwischen Schock, Verteidigungsbereitschaft und Ablehnung der Gewaltmittel und der Regierung, die sie einsetzt, mit klugem Witz reflektierte.« LINK [€]

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New Spokesperson: Thea Dorn for Eva Menasse

Press release of 1, November 2024: »PEN Berlin held its third general meeting in person on Friday. At the regular elections, journalist Deniz Yücel was confirmed in the role of spokesperson. Thea Dorn, writer and presenter for ZDF, was elected as new spokesperson. The writers Dana Grigorcea, Sophie Sumburane and Joachim Helfer, the playwright Konstantin Küspert and the translator Sandra Hetzl were confirmed in the association’s board. The new members of the eleven-member board are the writer Tomer Dotan-Dreyfus, the publisher Birgit Schmitz, the poet Paul-Henri Campbell and the author and lawyer Andrea Landfried. (…) The General Assembly welcomed 99 new members from various branches of writing and publishing.« MORE

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Eva Menasse on the call to boycott Israel: »We reject cultural boycotts«

Berliner Zeitung, 30. Oktober 2024: »For PEN Berlin, founded only in 2022, the writer Eva Menasse, who together with Deniz Yücel is the organization’s co-president, responded: ›We reject cultural boycotts, in any form and in any direction. We are very much looking forward to the keynote speaker of this year’s PEN Congress on Saturday in Hamburg: the Israeli author Etgar Keret. And we would like to remind everyone that last year, too, we clearly opposed certain calls to disinvite our keynote speaker A.L. Kennedy.‹ At the 2023 Congress, there had been debate beforehand about how to deal with artists who support the BDS campaign – whether as signatories of open letters or through public statements. ›PEN Berlin rejects BDS,‹ Yücel said.« LINK [€]

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PEN Berlin’s programme at the Frankfurt Book Fair: The Other Italy

3Sat,Kulturzeit, interview by Nil Varol with Eva Menasse, 18 October 2024: »We organized, together with a group of Italian authors who had initiated the open letter, a kind of supplementary program to the guest country’s appearance. And then the Italian authors among themselves said: Then Saviano should appear with us as well. (…) Saviano just said it on stage: for a while, he really had the feeling that his fellow writers found him a bit uncomfortable, so to speak: ›Does he always have to use such strong words?‹ ›Isn’t it somehow his own fault?‹ You can read the exact same thing in Salman Rushdie’s autobiography ›Joseph Anton‹. There he describes how his colleagues distance themselves, and how one becomes lonely – and at the same time a warning example for the others.«

 

Press coverage of The Other Italy: »We are like renegades at the fair«

»Giordano, Scurati and Francesca Melandri will speak on a concurrent panel organised by PEN Berlin called ›Rooted in the Present‹, while Saviano will speak on stage on Friday and Saturday. The anti-mafia author was sued in 2023 for calling Meloni ›a bastard‹ over her immigration policies and subsequently fined €1,000. ›Roberto Saviano is the most famous Italian writer in the world‹, the Austrian author and PEN Berlin spokesperson, Eva Menasse, said. ›By not inviting him to the Frankfurt book fair the Italian government has only managed to put a brighter spotlight on its illiberal practices.‹« (The Guardian) 

»›We are practically like renegades at the book fair‹, said Paolo Giordano on Wednesday. Together with the writers’ association PEN Berlin, which is led by author Eva Menasse and journalist Deniz Yücel, Giordano and other authors organised several events focusing on the state of culture, freedom of expression and artistic freedom in Italy. ›For topics that are burning under the nails of Italian authors and that may not be fully covered by the official guest country appearance‹, author Menasse from PEN Berlin moderated the event.« Tagesschau

»While the Guest of Honour Pavilion opens with a praise of beauty under the motto ›Roots in the Future‹, PEN Berlin invites visitors to discuss ›Roots in the Present‹.(…) Basically, says Giordano, two years of government helped him to realise which side he was on.Media control and media that are compliant to the government, restrictions on freedom of expression, the disciplining of unpopular critics, campaigns aimed at the personal – all of this is addressed by these first critical authors. Meanwhile, in the guest of honour programme, Giordano Bruno Guerri, the director of the Vittoriale, Gabriele d’Annunzio’s megalomaniac residence on Lake Garda, which is extremely popular with right-wingers, and the author Giuseppe Culicchia chat to a sparse audience about ›Il Piacere‹ (1889), an early decadent novel by d’Annunzio. You have to look a long way for the roots of the future.« Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung [ €]

»The discussion with Roberto Saviano and Deniz Yücel attracts great interest. (…) The right-wing forces wanted to establish a cultural hegemony, exerting pressure on the press and the judiciary. They referred to the Renaissance in a glorifying way. This was also visible in the Italian guest-of-honor pavilion with its colonnade, where a reading about Gabriele D’Annunzio, an ideological forerunner of Italian fascism, took place. The Meloni government, Saviano said, is creating conditions that make it comfortable to cooperate with them – and very uncomfortable to oppose them. ›In Italy, I am treated like a dissident.‹ Deniz Yücel then said that the accusation of betraying one’s own country was completely unfounded. ›You are, in the best sense of the word, a patriot.‹ Saviano assured that he would remain in Italy, even though so much there is changing for the worse.« Frankfurter Rundschau

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Talks about democracy and freedom of expression
37 x in Eastern Germany: »You Can’t Say Anything These Days«

PEN Berlin organised a series of talks in the East German states Saxony,Thuringia and Brandenburg in August and September under the title “You Can’t Say Anything These Days – talks about democracy and freedom of expression” in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg. All in all 37 events, from Annaberg to Perleberg, from Ilmenau to Zwickau. The series has now come to an end. We would like to thank the Stiftung Orte der deutschen Demokratiegeschichte, the Thüringer Programm Denk Bunt and the Programm Tolerantes Brandenburg, all our cooperation partners who allowed us to be their guests, the 118 writers, journalists, publicists and artists who took part, and especially all the citizens who came to discuss freedom of expression and democracy.

Here you can find shorter video and longer audio recordings of all events. And here an overview of interviews and reports.

Press reviews [all in German]: »The series of talks organised by PEN Berlin before the state elections in the East is prominent, opinionated and top-class. It could deliver what was demanded in the autumn of 1989.«(Leipziger Volkszeitung)

 »A lot of courage, little anger – that’s what the evening in Chemnitz offers. This is exactly what PEN Berlin, as the organiser of this series of events, is hoping for: to seek dialogue with people who fear that they can no longer express their opinions freely.« (DLF Kultur)

»With these events, the second German PEN not only takes up the cause of freedom of expression, but also organises on a larger scale what is being demanded everywhere: political debate among those who are supposed to be the sovereign in the country, but all too often do not feel so: the voters.« (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

»PEN Berlin has achieved something that works beyond the usual star appearances, where intellectual or political celebrities of whatever kind invade the provinces to spread a whiff of the big wide world.« (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

»No opinion corridors, no language bans, no cancel culture. Genuine freedom of speech was demanded – by the very cultural institution that right-wing populists like to accuse of ›patronising opinions‹.« (ARD, Titel, Thesen, Temperamente)

 

»The writers’ association PEN Berlin is touring the East to promote the open debate that is vital to any democracy. [Eva Menasse:] ›If people feel they cannot speak freely, they lose faith in democracy.‹« (ZDF, heute journal)

 

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Regarding the attack on Joe Chialo: There is nothing to discuss here

Press release of 24, September 2024: »PEN Berlin is appalled by the attack on the home of the Berlin Senator for Culture. (…) Not only are these assaults unacceptable, but so is the accusation sprayed on the wall of the house in blood-red paint that Chialo supports ›genocide‹. (…) We’re happy to have the debate with Joe Chialo on the most effective ways to fight anti-Semitism that align with German constitutional principles, artistic freedom and the ideals of a cosmopolitan approach. We can also discuss how to include moderate Palestinian voices in this discussion and avoid placing any criticism of the Netanyahu government under suspicion. But when Joe Chialo is physically attacked, when even his family is affected, there is nothing to discuss here. We stand by his side.« MORE

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PEN Berlin protests: Seven years in jail for a novel?

Press release of 10, September 2024: »The award-winning Turkish-Kurdish author Yavuz Ekinci will have to stand trial once again. His novel ›Traumsplitter‹ was confiscated and banned in March 2023. According to the new charges, the book contains ›terrorist propaganda‹. Ekinci faces a seven-year jail term. (…) ›Receiving a court summons with the subject line ›Why did you write this book?‹ sets a dangerous precedent and will sooner or later threaten the freedom of all of us‹, said Yavuz Ekinci. Sandra Hetzl, board member of PEN Berlin, commented: ›This charge against one of Turkey’s best and most famous authors is a new, dramatic attempt to intimidate all those who wish to express themselves freely in Turkey, be they writers or journalists.‹« MORE