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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PEN-Berlin-Congress on 2 November 2024 in Hamburg: »On we go«

Etgar Keret: »What to do now?«

Introduction by Daniel Dylan Böhmer: »When I met Etgar Keret for the first time, at the end of the 1990s, he was in his early 30s and was considered a threat to Israeli literature.« TEXT und AUDIO (both in German)

Keynote by Etgar Keret: »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.‹ (…) For example, we would listen to Wagner in our home and when the neighbors would say to my mother: ›You know, that the Nazis loved Wagner?‹ And she 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, (…) that is something that is crucial for me these days.« KEYNOTE AS TEXT and AND AS AUDIO

Ivan Krastev and Fintan O’Toole: It’s the Mope-Syndrome

»Handbook to the end of the world«: The Bulgarian political scientist Ivan Krastev and the Irish commentator Fintan O’Toole in conversation with Eva Menasse:
O’Toole: »Particularly on the Snowflake side, about a kind of sadism, a kind of sense of, you know, sticking it to the people we really hate. That becomes the main driving force. And if you don’t stop it at a certain point, it can take on its own logic and its own momentum: They did this to us, we have to do it back to them. (…) So, the one thing we preserved in Ireland was a sense of humor. Somebody in Belfast came up with this idea of what they called ›Mope-Syndrome‹. To mope means to really feel very sorry for yourself. But mope in this case stands for M-O-P-E – Most Oppressed People Ever.
Krastev: »I was re-reading all the interesting stuff being written just after the end of the Cold War. And paradoxically, it was neither Huntington nor basically Fukuyama. The most interesting book came from a German writer: Enzensberger’s book ›Civil War‹. Written in 1993. If you re-read the book now, you’re going to be shocked.« AUDIO [ENGLISH]

Stella Nyanzi: »Uganda is an open jail«

Ugandan anthropologist and poet Stella Nyanzi in talk with Sophie Sumburane: »I think a lot of us have heard about the anti-homosexuality law in Uganda. We know about the death penalty, about life imprisonment, prison sentences, monetary fines ›healing of the mind‹. 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 20 years in prison is production of knowledge and information about homosexuality (…) That discrimination against same-sex loving people is terrible, to criminalize production of knowledge is unacceptable, because if homosexual people are deemed to be inhuman. (…) For me, in terms of having a contribution towards the third PEN Congress it’s important to highlight that there’s also the issue of criminalizing production of knowledge around a topic such as homosexuality.« AUDIO (ENGLISH)

 

Publikumsdebatte: AfD verbieten?

Impulsreferate des Autors Philipp Ruch und des Rechtsanwalts David Werdermann, anschließend Debatte im Publikum.
Ruch: »Die AfD hegt keine ›Gewaltfantasien‹. Was sie fordert und verspricht, sind Staatsverbrechen. (…) Obwohl Walter Lübcke von einem AfD-Wahlkampfhelfer erschossen wird. Obwohl in Thüringen das Haus eines Parteikollegen des Kanzlers brennt, empfiehlt Scholz, Olaf als Rezeptur gegen die AfD: ›Wählen gehen‹. Nun, es wurde gewählt. Und wie.« TEXT and AUDIO [GERMAN]
Werdermann: »Faschismus ist ein Verbrechen. Aber die Befürwortung des Faschismus ist eine Meinung. Und als solche darf sie nicht wegen ihres Inhalts verboten werden. (…) Verbote sind in vielen Fällen nicht nur demokratietheoretisch und rechtlich fragwürdig, sondern auch strategisch unklug. Die Lage ist ernst, aber kein Grund, demokratische Prinzipien über Bord zu werfen.« TEXT and AUDIO
Publikum: »Aus der Dialektik, dass wir durch die Beschwörung der offenen Debatte unter Umständen auch an ihrer Abschaffung arbeiten, kommen wir nicht raus. Trotzdem sehe ich als einzige Möglichkeit, so zu agieren wie Philipp Ruch und Höcke das Mahnmal als Modell vor die Tür zu stellen. Wenn es die AfD nicht mehr gibt, kann Ruch das nicht mehr machen. Darum bin ich gegen ein Verbot der AfD.« AUDIO

Kulturschaffende aus Ostdeutschland: »Das Kulturland Sachsen steht vor der Pleite«

Panel »Kultur im Osten unter Druck«: Daniel Ris, Daniel Morgenroth (Intendanten der Theater Senftenberg bzw. Görlitz) Iris Helbing (Leiterin Kulturamt Meiningen) und Juliana Socher (Lesebühne Pirna), Moderation Linn Penelope Rieger (Schriftstellerin)
Morgenroth: »Als Leiter eines kommunalen Theaters und Orchesters muss ich die traurige Botschaft bringen, dass das Kulturland Sachsen kurz vor dem Kollaps steht. Alle kommunal Theater und Orchester stehen Ende nächsten Jahres vor der Pleite.«
Socher: »Bei uns kommt der Druck aus einer anderen Ecke: Dass wir uns als ›Literarisches Komplott‹ dazu selbst verpflichtet haben, Kultur für alle zu machen – in einer Stadt, die schwarz-weiß auf verbrieft, dass sie nichts für alle machen will, mit einem Oberbürgermeister, der nicht Politik, für alle machen will.«
Helbing: »Das Klima hat sich verändert. (…) Jude ist wieder ein Schimpfwort, dass Jugendliche mit Hitlergruß auf dem Schulhof stehen, ist total normal, Freundinnen muslimischen Glaubens werden ständig angefeindet, wenn sie ein Kopftuch tragen (…). Das ist kein schönes Klima mehr und das macht mir natürlich Angst.«
Ris: »Wir laden auch die AfD-Wähler ein, wir laden niemanden aus. Aber genauso laut sagen wir, was wir auch an der Tür hängen haben: Kein Platz für Antisemitismus, Rassismus, Homofeindlichkeit. Das diskutiere ich dann mit unseren Zuschauerinnen und Zuschauern.« AUDIO [GERMAN]

Podiumsgespräch über innere Zensur: »Ich habe das Internet ausgeschaltet«

Die Schriftsteller:innen Simone Buchholz, Dana Grigorcea, Jovana Reisinger und Alain Claude Sulzer im Gespräch mit Jan Ehlert:
Reisinger: »Vielleicht ist manchmal eine bestimmte kleine Schere nicht so verkehrt, weil man viel bewegen kann, wenn man sich löst von Stereotypen und Klischees.«
Sulzer: »Eine belletristische Literatur, die mit Fußnoten arbeitet, sollte nicht sein. Die Leute, die das lesen, werden verstehen, warum ich dieses Wort verwende. Nicht ich, sondern dieser Ich-Erzähler.«
Grigorcea: »Die Menschen, die die Bereitschaft aufbringen, unterschiedliche Perspektiven anzunehmen beim Lesen, die reagieren nicht mit Empörung auf ein Buch. Leute vom Rande unserer Literaturblase reagieren mit Empörung vom Hörensagen.«
Buchholz: »Ich habe das Internet ausgeschaltet. Man kann mir keine E-Mails mehr schicken, wenn man Adresse nicht hat. Social Media habe ich auch abgeschaltet. Seitdem geht es mir sehr viel besser und seitdem ist es mir viel mehr egal.« AUDIO

Imprisoned writers: Free Pham Dong Trang, Alaa Abdel Fattah, Toomaj Salehi!

Alexandru Bulucz: »We appeal to the German authorities to use all possible diplomatic means to get Toomaj Salehi out of the country, to a safe place where no one will have to apologise for wishing a fundamentalist, unjust regime to hell.« At the congress, we presented not only the imprisoned Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, but also the prominent blogger and writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah (presentation: Sandra Hetzl), who has been imprisoned in Egypt for more than ten years, and Vietnamese writer and human rights activist Pham Dong Trang (presentation: Jayrôme Robinet). ALL PRESENTATIONS

 

Carsten Brosda: The public sphere is not a safe space

Welcome Speech by Hamburg Senator of Culture: »It is not possible to organise a public sphere as a safe space. It is inconceivable to believe that freedoms are harmless. It became dangerous the first time people – we are in the port city of Hamburg – set sail in a sailing boat and sailed out of their own bay. Because then I no longer knew where the stones were in the water. I could run aground. The freedom to do so put my life at risk. Of course, I could have stayed on land, where I couldn’t drown. But then I wouldn’t have seen the world. So I can’t take liberties without being aware of the dangers. So I can’t talk about the question ›Do I need something like a public sphere‹ in terms of pros and cons.« TEXT and AUDIO (both in German)

 

 

Eva Menasse: »On we go – the only way«

Opening and farewell speech by Eva Menasse: »Two and a half years ago, together with Deniz Yücel and many others, I threw myself into the crazy adventure of founding a new PEN, because that’s what I missed most in Germany: an active, vibrant writers’ association. A union of writers who are all individualists and often enough contrarians, but who nevertheless respect their lowest common denominator – we can write freely and without influence in this country – so much that they are willing to turn it into a strong platform. A platform that defends freedom of speech, art and science for everyone in every respect, and that organises the controversial, difficult and delicate discussions itself if necessary. A platform broad and secure enough to help at least some of those colleagues who have been persecuted, imprisoned, tortured or forced into exile in their own countries simply because of what they have written or said.« SPEECH AS TEXT and AS AUDIO (both in German)

 

Presseberichte zum Kongress: »Etgar Kerets unglaubliches Kunststück«

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: »The PEN Berlin writers’ association 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 a variety of journalistic backgrounds (…) PEN Berlin now has around 730 members, making it the largest writers’ association in the German-speaking world. « MORE

 

 

Eva Menasse zum Boykottaufruf gegen Israel: »Wir lehnen Kulturboykott ab«

Berliner Zeitung, 30. Oktober 2024: »Bezüglich der Verantwortung von Schriftstellerinnen und Schriftstellern in der Gesellschaft haben wir beim PEN-Zentrum Deutschland nach einer Einschätzung des Offenen Briefs gefragt, aber bislang keine Antwort erhalten. Für den erst 2022 gegründeten PEN Berlin antwortete die Schriftstellerin Eva Menasse, die gemeinsam mit Deniz Yücel Sprecherin der Vereinigung ist: ›Wir lehnen Kulturboykott ab, in jeder Form, in jede Richtung. Wir freuen uns sehr auf den Festredner des diesjährigen PEN-Kongresses am Samstag in Hamburg: den israelischen Schriftsteller Etgar Keret. Und wir sind – das nur zur Erinnerung – auch letztes Jahr manchen Forderungen klar entgegengetreten, unsere Festrednerin A.L. Kennedy wieder auszuladen.‹ Beim Kongress 2023 wurde im Vorfeld diskutiert, wie man mit Künstlern umgehen soll, die die BDS-Kampagne unterstützen – ob als Unterzeichner Offener Briefe oder durch öffentliche Rede. ›Der PEN Berlin lehnt BDS ab‹, sagte Yücel damals zur Eröffnung.« LINK [€]

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PEN Berlin’s programme at the Frankfurt Book Fair 

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 [ €]

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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: »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) [in German]

 »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) [in German]

»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) [in German].

»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) [in German].

»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) [in German]

»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. Following the physical and verbal assault on Joe Chialo at the opening of a cultural festival last week, this violation of his privacy marks a further escalation. 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 on 18 September in Istanbul. 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

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Interviews zur Reihe »Das wird man ja wohl noch sagen dürfen«

Freie Presse, Interview von Tim Hofmann mit Deniz Yücel, 1. August 2024: [Hofmann:] »Schließt der PEN Berlin (…) eine Mitgliedschaft von AfD-Mitgliedern nicht aus? Das PEN-Zentrum Deutschland hat neulich einen entsprechenden Unvereinbarkeitsbeschluss gefasst.« [Yücel:] »Im PEN Berlin hat dies bislang niemand angeregt – und falls die Idee aufkäme, wäre ich dagegen. Auch, weil sich die Zahl der AfD-Mitglieder, die bei uns eintreten will, sehr in Grenzen hält, und das dürfte beim Darmstädter PEN-Zentrum nicht anders sein. Insofern hat das was von Gratismut. Und ich denke, dass die Idee dahinter auf Strategien aus den Neunziger- und Nullerjahren beruht, wo wir es mit der NPD zutun hatten und mit militanten Kameradschaften. Strategien gegen solche Minderheiten auf den Umgang mit einer Partei zu übertragen, die regional bei 30 oder 40 Prozent steht und damit auf dem Weg zur Volkspartei ist, funktioniert nicht.«  LINK [€]

Deutschlandfunk,Kulturfragen,Karin Fischer im Gespräch mit Daniel Morgenroth (Intendant des Gerhart-Hauptmann-Theaters Görlitz-Zittau), 4. August 2024: »Das hat uns sehr gefreut, dass der PEN Berlin auf uns zugekommen ist mit dieser Diskussionsreihe, die wir sofort großartig fanden. Wir hatten schon Diskussionsreihen, auch mit externen Partnern, die ein bisschen langweilig waren, weil man Angst hatte: Welches Publikum kommt da, wie wird das sein? Ich kann auch ein schönes Beispiel nennen: Kürzlich war zum ›Samuel W.‹ Bundespräsident Steinmeier bei uns. Und das Bundespräsidialamt hatte größte Angst, was da passieren könnte, weil es eine öffentliche Vorstellung war. Wenn da Menschen stören (…). Ich habe denen gesagt: Erstens wird da nichts passieren, unser Publikum ist sehr friedlich. Und selbst wenn: Wie schön wäre das! Stellen Sie sich vor, da ruft mal jemand dazwischen, und der Bundespräsident ist da. Wie reagiert man? Dann muss man sich mit dem auseinandersetzen oder was sagen.« LINK und AUDIO

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Deniz Yücel zum »Compact«-Verbot: »Die Bundesregierung verwechselt Recht und Moral«

WDR 5,Sebastian Sonntag im Gespräch mit Deniz Yücel, 20. Juli 2024: »Ich finde es ärgerlich, dass einem rechtsradikalen Spinner wie Jürgen Elsässer die Möglichkeit zu geben, sich als Held der Pressefreiheit aufzuspielen. (…) Und das ist ein grundsätzliches Problem, das wir auch im Forschungsministerium sehen, wo eine Prüfung in Auftrag gegeben wurde, ob man Universitätsprofessoren, die einen offenen Brief unterzeichnet hatten gegen die Räumung eines propalästinensischen Camps an der FU Berlin, ob das strafrechtlich relevant war oder ob man ihnen Fördergelder entziehen könne (…) Beides sind für mich Zeichen dafür, dass man in der Bundesregierung dazu neigt, Moral und Recht zu verwechseln. (…)« [Sonntag:] »Man könnte argumentieren, dass dieses Verbot ein Zeichen einer einer wehrhaften Demokratie.« LINK und AUDIO

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Julian Assange: Finally, but

Press release of 25, June 2024: »Finally – Julian Assange, the longest serving political prisoner in the Western world, is free and on his way home to Australia. PEN Berlin welcomes the release of its honorary member with great relief. After 14 years of injustice, the decision by the US Justice Department to return to the proper treatment of whistleblowers was years overdue; the persecution of the journalist and Wikileaks founder, with the dubious support of Sweden and the UK, resembled a modern-day witch hunt.« MORE

 

 

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Toomaj Salehi: Death penalty has been lifted

The Guardian: In April of this year, our honorary member, the Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, was sentenced to death by a court. This led to major protests within the cultural sector, not only in Germany, and PEN Berlin issued a press release calling for his immediate release. Citing his lawyer Amir Raisian, the Guardian now reports that the death sentence against the artist has been lifted! »Iran’s supreme court has overturned the death sentence imposed on the rapper Toomaj Salehi, his lawyer said. The decision comes in the middle of Iran’s presidential election campaign but seems unrelated to the fierce public debates under way about Iran’s future direction, including the rights of women not to wear the hijab if they wish. “Salehi’s death sentence was overturned,” the rapper’s lawyer, Amir Raisian, said in a post on X, adding that the supreme court had ordered a retrial.« MORE

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Panel: Anti-Semitism in the cultural sector

taz, 10. Juni 2024: »Deniz Yücel bezeichnete die Antidiskriminierungsklausel als ›Übersprungshandlung‹. Das Problem sei nicht nur die strenge IHRA-Definition, sondern auch dass andere Begriffe wie Vielfalt oder Queerfeindlichkeit zu schwammig formuliert worden seien. Es sei ein Fehler, den Anspruch an Verwaltungsorgane zu stellen, sie sollten über Einzelfälle entscheiden. Mit Blick auf künftige Wahlen sieht Yücel die Gefahr, dass ähnliche Klauseln einmal zu anderen Werten, wie etwa Heimattreue, verpflichten könnten. Außerdem sieht er ein generelles Missverhältnis zwischen vehementer Kritik am Kulturbetrieb und der Realpolitik, etwa wenn Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz den türkischen Präsidenten und Hamas-Sympathisanten Erdoğan empfängt. Irgendwann wurde es Chialo zu viel der Kritik an seiner Antidiskriminierungsklausel: ›Wir haben sie zurückgezogen, wir haben es verstanden. Wartet doch erst mal auf die neue Klausel.‹« MORE

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Iranian Rapper: Free Toomaj Salehi! 

Press release of 25, April 2024: »Rapper Toomaj Salehi sentenced to death: PEN Berlin joins the call of Ye-One Rhie, a member of the Bundestag who has taken on a ›political godparenthood‹ for the rapper Toomaj Salehi. ›Mullahs of Iran, revoke the death penalty for Salehi and drop the charges! And finally stop torturing people. Grant freedom of expression. The more you try to brutally suppress the critical words of your citizens, the louder we hear them‹, said PEN Berlin spokesperson Deniz Yücel.

Salehi is an honorary member of PEN Berlin. He was arrested in October 2022 during the Mahsa Amini protests for his dissident writings, released on bail a year later and arrested again shortly afterwards.« MORE

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PEN Berlin in Bled: Literature in the Balkans, Human Rights in Pakistan

PEN Berlin board member Sophie Sumburane attended the 56th meeting of the International Writers for Peace Committee in Bled, Slovenia, from 15 to 18 April. In April weather by the lake, there were round-table discussions on »The Consequences of Catastrophe for Peace: Writers’ Response« and »Multiculturality and Dialogue in Balkan Literature«, as well as updates on the current human rights situation in Pakistan.

This friendly photo was taken with Tanja Tuma, Interim Secretary General of PEN International, and the delegates from our sister organisation PEN Germany.

 

 

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Setting an example. Against anti-Semitism

The Regional Group West of PEN Berlin, together with the Cologne Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation and the Literaturhaus Cologne, invites you: Monday, 29 April, 7 pm | Literaturhaus Köln | Großer Griechenmarkt 39

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Julian Assange : No victory, just no defeat

Press Release 26 March, 2024: On the British High Court’s decision to suspend Julian Assange’s extradition to the US. »›Julian Assange could not win today; for him it was only a matter of not losing – as so often in the past 13 years’, Menasse said‹. (…) PEN Berlin recalls that Julian Assange has been in prison for over 13 years because of the publications of WikiLeaks. However, no one has yet been brought to justice for the war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan exposed by WikiLeaks.« MORE

 

 

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Podiumsdiskussion Protestbauern, Bauernproteste

Welt, 6. März 2024: »Da konnte die Wahl-Brandenburgerin Duve noch so wettern – etwa gegen Bauern, die Unterstützung forderten für Probleme mit dem Klimawandel, den sie selbst mitverursachten. (…) ›Mir kommt der Bauernverband immer vor wie ein ungezogenes Monsterkind, das seit Jahrzehnten kein Nein gehört hat‹, schimpfte die 62-Jährige. Daher müsse endlich ein Keil zwischen die Bauernfunktionäre und die Landwirte getrieben werden. Das allerdings ist so ziemlich das Gegenteil der politischen Taktik Özdemirs. (…) Was ›diese Regierung‹ geschafft habe sei ›große Staatskunst‹, ätzte der Minister über die Kabinettskollegen: Die zerstrittenen Bauernfraktionen seien ›für einen Moment alle geeint wegen des Agrardiesels‹. (…) Zudem habe die Ampel versäumt, vor den Beschlüssen mit den Landwirten zu sprechen. ›So bringt man die Leute dazu, Klimaschutz zu hassen‹, warnte Özdemir.« MEHR [€]

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Julian Assange: The Dreyfus of our century

Press Release 20 February, 2024: On the threat of Julian Assange’s extradition:  »The Assange case is an act of arbitrary justice and is already a serious defeat for liberal democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Despite all the worldwide protests, despite the admissions of leading politicians such as Annalena Baerbock (“serious violations of fundamental freedoms under the European Convention on Human Rights”), despite all his prizes and honorary memberships (including in PEN Berlin), Julian Assange’s fate seems to be unfolding before everyone’s eyes like a natural disaster. ​​(…). ​​In its treatment of the Wikileaks founder and journalist Julian Assange, the West is showing just how much its values are really worth in an emergency.« MORE

 

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Ronya Othmann uninvited: No to cancellation, yes to conversation – Anytime, Anywhere

Press Release 18 February, 2024: »​​PEN Berlin strongly criticises the disinvitation of the writer and columnist Ronya Othmann, our former board member, from the Karachi Literature Festival. The disinvitation was preceded by a social media campaign and an open letter with over 400 signatories accusing Othmann of ›Zionist and Islamophobic positions‹. It is irritating, even disturbing, that the signatories include many writers and intellectuals who would claim freedom of expression at any time. (…) As PEN, we are convinced that conversation and exchange must remain possible across all political differences«, said PEN Berlin spokesperson Eva Menasse. Every serious debate must include the willingness not only to tolerate positions that are diametrically opposed to one’s own, but to listen to them: ›Otherwise every conversation turns into a soliloquy.‹« MORE

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Reading in Hamburg: »Never Again is Now – Texts Against Antisemitism«

NDR Kultur, Journal, Interview by Katja Weise with Katharina Hagena, January 16, 2024: »It was actually also an initiative of PEN Berlin. We Hamburg members of PEN Berlin said: ›We are the second largest city – there’s no way we can’t organize such an event.‹ So we started getting people together. The difference between our event and the other two is that it was our ambition, or rather our wish, to work together with the Jewish Salon am Grindel, not only to talk about Jewish life or being Jewish, but also to stay in conversation with Jewish people. We are especially happy about this.« LINK and AUDIO (in German)

 

 

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Poet, founding member and friend: We mourn the loss of Harry Oberländer

We mourn the loss of our founding member Harry Oberländer, who died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 73.

We remember the poet, translator and literary mediator as a dedicated member who supported the new German PEN in word and deed with full conviction. He welcomed the founding of a »markedly rejuvenated PEN, for which the word ›diverse‹ is not an angry foreign word and which sees itself as a non-governmental organization for freedom of speech and publication and for the support of persecuted authors«, he wrote after the founding meeting of PEN Berlin, to which he had traveled from his home in Hesse. MORE

 

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Interview with Alexandru Bulucz: »Contributing to the socio-political debate«

MDR Kultur, Interview with Alexandru Bulucz, 20 December 2023: »Another PEN in Germany became necessary because the times we live in are fraught with conflicts and their own needs that require a flexible response. 18 months after the founding of PEN Berlin, there are clear differences to the German PEN in Darmstadt: above all, the willingness to contribute to the socio-political debate. This has become clear in the last few weeks (…) There were two resolutions that complement each other: one on ‘Solidarity with Jews in Germany, Israel and everywhere’ and one on ‘Against social polarisation and illiberal tendencies in the cultural sector’. (…) With the latter, we emphasise the need to define the concept of freedom of speech as broadly as possible. This, in turn, is something that touches on so many complex issues in Germany, with its particular history.« AUDIO (GERMAN)

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Congress of PEN Berlin, 16. December 2023 in Berlin: »»With Our Heads Through The Walls««

Keynote speech by A. L. Kennedy: »I’m sorry everything is shit«

Keynote speech by A.L. Kennedy at congress of PEN Berlin, 16 December 2023: »When PEN was founded in the UK of 1921, authoritarianism was rising as it is today. An emboldened British ruling class was, as it is today, disproportionately powerful and beguiled by the idea that good fortune is predetermined by blood and soil, that privilege isn’t privilege but divine right. A group of prominent writers took steps to defend writers of fiction, professional liars, if you will. I think, because of the truths central to what we do: all people are people, all have voices, the world is a difficult place and needs mercy, a good life finds its way in pursuing the next loving thing. That sounds weak, unfamiliar, odd even as I say it – but love is the strongest thing. It is to Britain’s eternal shame that, were PEN being founded today, it would be controversial in an energy-sapping way, condemned as an alien contaminant, an example of a self-aggrandising elite.« FULL SPEECH

 

Opening speech by Deniz Yücel: »Active despair or: Behind the scenes of PEN Berlin« 

Opening speech of Deniz Yücel at PEN Berlin congress, 16 December 2023: »Even if this is often confused, the debate in Germany is fortunately not about the question ›Israel boycott: yes or no?‹, but about how to deal with artists who support the BDS campaign. (…)

Because, in case of doubt, we are always in favour of keeping spaces for debate as open as possible. Because freedom of speech includes the freedom to say stupid, disturbing, even supposedly scandalous things. Because, like last year’s keynote speaker Ayad Akhtar, we are against any ›climate of digital intimidation‹. Because we don’t just reject Cancel Culture when it suits us. For all these reasons, we, the board of PEN Berlin, do not support a blanket boycott of everything and everyone that is somehow labelled ›BDS-related‹. Which is why we don’t support BDS. It’s logical, isn’t it?« FULL SPEECH

 

Speech by Ursula Krechel: »The spirit of freedom of speech« 

Speech by Ursula Krechel at congress of PEN Berlin, 16 December 2023: »Everything is on the decline: The parties are losing members, the churches are standing frozen in horror at the huge numbers of people leaving, sports clubs are complaining that people no longer want to commit to a club, and the voluntary fire brigades are complaining that only a few people want to carry out voluntary roles – at the fire engine or in a burning house. Let others burn their fingers and snouts. And here we are: All volunteers with a job that our parents warned us about. Writers who have come together voluntarily, setting up working groups that try to offer protection to those in need. Branches all over the world, strong in quotas, diverse, super performers. FULL SPEECH (GERMAN)

 

 

Debate Adrian Daub vs. Susan Neiman: »What Is Woke, Where Is Left?«  

Impulse speeches at the PEN Berlin Congress »With Our Head Through the Walls« 16 December 2023

»A right-wing battle cry: woke« by Adrian Daub: »There is a suspicion that what is being fussed about in Woke does not exist at all, or if it does, then only in the fussing about it. The criticism, the rejection, is the only thing that is really sharp in the characteristics.« FULL SPEECH (in German)

»Anti-universalist thinking: woke« by Susan Neiman: »As difficult as it may be in some cases to distinguish between justice and claims to power, the fundamental distinction is the basis of left-liberal thinking.« FULL SPEECH (in German)

 

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General meeting: New members in the association and on the Board, resolutions

Press release, 16 December 2023: »On Friday, the authors‘ association PEN Berlin held its second general meeting in presence at the Humboldt University of Berlin. The assembly elected 68 new members, 43 of whom are women. Among others, the writers Nava Ebrahimi, Deborah Feldman, Charlotte Gneuss, Navid Kermani and Fiston Mwanza Mujila, the playwright Sivan Ben Yishai, the poet Martin Piekar, the publicists Hamed Abdel-Samad, Bernd Stegemann and Sophie Passmann, the historian Per Leo and the philosopher Omri Boehm were admitted to PEN Berlin. The association has thus grown to around 650 members – and 49 per cent women.« MORE