Freedom to write, freedom to read.  

English PEN promotes literature and human rights. A registered charity, English PEN’s membership is drawn from all those who work with the written word: Poets, Essayists, Novelists, academics, journalists, playwrights, publishers, booksellers, translators and literary agents.  English PEN was established in 1921 as the founding centre of an international network of PEN centres.  PEN International now has 144 centres in 102 countries.
English PEN defends the rights of persecuted writers abroad, while maintaining a robust defence of free speech in the UK.  Their work promotes literature in translation through a major Arts Council funded programme, and run literacy programmes in refugee centres and prisons.

English PEN at the University of Surrey

English PEN at the University of Surrey is a unique collaboration between English PEN, the Department of English, and the students of the University. We also welcome the involvement of readers and writers from the city of Guildford and surrounding area. Students and staff will be working on projects in each of PEN’s areas of focus, including public events with leading British writers, campaigns for those imprisoned for what they have written, and translating their work for an English speaking audience. Participation in these projects is open to anyone who values freedom of expression and believes that, in the words of the PEN charter, ‘Literature Knows No Frontiers’.
You can read more about the work of English PEN by visiting English PEN’s website www.englishpen.org or following English PEN on twitter @englishpen. For more information on how you can get involved in PEN at the University of Surrey, please contact amanda.finelli@surrey.ac.uk.

Amanda Finelli: Project Coordinator (amanda.finelli@surrey.ac.uk)

Dr Churnjeet Mahn: Academic Liaison (c.mahn@surrey.ac.uk)

Professor Marion Wynne-Davies (m.wynne-davies@surrey.ac.uk)

Past Events:

In June of 2011 the Surrey English Department launched their collaboration with English PEN with a sold-out evening with best-selling author and English PEN trustee, Monica Ali. Over the course of the evening Ali provided intimate insight into her own work as well as offering an impassioned assessment of the responsibility of writers and enthusiasts to utilise a privileged democratic position in order to defend the artistic voice globally. An informative evening for creative writing and literature students alike, the audience had the opportunity to ask an internationally acclaimed author questions on writing, reading, and what comes next for the defence of free speech.

Dr Churnjeet Mahn interviewing Monica Ali, who is a trustee of English PEN

In collaboration with English PEN and the Guildford Book Festival, the University of Surrey’s English Department was chosen to host one of three events touring the country in October 2011, ‘Writing Freedom: The English PEN Roadshow.’ ‘Writing Freedom’ was a performance piece which documented the work of English PEN over the last century and highlighted the continued necessity to protect and ensure the rights of free speech and expression internationally. The piece was performed by the department’s own Amanda Finelli and Marion Wynne-Davies, alongside Turkish writer and International PEN Vice-President Moris Farhi, award-winning UK author and journalist Neil McKenna and author and deputy President of English PEN, Carole Seymour-Jones. The event successfully introduced students and the community to the work of English PEN and ignited a lively and intellectually informed debate on the merits and limitations of free expression.

Undergraduate Curriculum:

English PEN: Censorship, Freedom of Speech and Literature is a third-year option module which utilises project-based learning to discover the interface between theory and practice when dealing with censorship and free-expression internationally. The module investigates some of English PEN’s key initiatives (the Writers in Prison and Writers in Translation Programmes) alongside current global case-studies in considering the future of writing in what is becoming a largely-technological and tenuously defined space. Students are encouraged to engage with current events to renegotiate previous theorisations of censorship in light of shifting legislative landscapes.

PENsoc: English PEN at the University of Surrey

Due to the initiative and enthusiasm of Surrey students, PENsoc, the English PEN student society was officially ratified in December of 2011. Students across all disciplines in the University are encouraged to join in the fight against censorship. For more information on their work, check out PENsoc on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/#!/SurreyEnglishPEN