Interested in helping to promote world literature and freedom of expression around the globe? Kevin Brazil and Rosie Lavan, this year’s EGO Social Secretaries, are working to launch a student chapter of PEN in Oxford. The objective is to increase the sense of community at a Faculty level, to strengthen interactions between undergraduates, graduates and Faculty, as well as to campaign on issues relating to contemporary world literatures and freedom of expression. This would be Britain’s second chapter, inspired by one recently set up in King’s College London. You can find a description of their group here.
Since 1921, English PEN has campaigned on a wide range of issues related to freedom of expression and you can find out more here or here.
With Oxford’s uniquely international concentration of writers and academics, we believe a student PEN chapter here would attract substantial interest, as shown by informal contact with students and Faculty. We also hope to draw in members from the students and Faculty of Modern Languages, Refugee and Development Studies, and African and South Asian Studies to have as broad a membership as possible, and we hope this organisation will be a fun, social way to meet students both within the Faculty and in other disciplines who share our passion for contemporary world literature. Both the Faculty Board and English PEN have officially approved our proposal, and both are keen to support this project in whatever way they can. The next step is that we need you to get involved!
So whether you work on post-colonial and world literature as part of your research or are just an avid reader of world literature and are frustrated by the lack of translations into English; whether you are concerned about the increasing use of internet censorship to silence the global youth protest movements, or wish to engage with the politics of literature and publishing in the twenty-first century; whether you are a writer or have an interest in translating and would like to connect with other writers around the world; or whether you simply would like to meet some people who share your love of literature: then get in touch!
In the coming year we plan to focus our campaigns on supporting fellow students around the world. Our activities will involve regular letter and email writing sessions in support of imprisoned writers; connecting with like-minded groups around the world and writing about them on our blog; showcasing new world writing in translation in live readings and online, and organising a day of lectures and workshops in Oxford. You can help out as much or as little as you would like, and of course we would love to hear any ideas you might have. We look forward to hearing from you. Please write to Kevin or to Rosie with your comments or suggestions, or just to make your interest known.
