Arnold Zable, on behalf of the PEN Melbourne committee.

To be condemned to years of detention without knowing why is appalling. This Kafkaesque nightmare can, and should be resolved quickly, and resolved as a matter of urgency. It requires an act of humanity from our politicians and immigration department bureaucrats. They need to put themselves in the shoes of the 25 hunger strikers and the broader group of 56 men, women and children who have now been detained for periods of up to 4 years, compounding the years of trauma that initially impelled them to make the desperate journey to a new life. That such a gross abuse of human rights is happening in this country is an outrage.

Arnold Zable
President PEN Melbourne, on behalf of the committee

Alice will talk about south-east Asian women’s rights in a developing and developed world, drawing on her Chinese-Cambodian family background. She’ll also talk about women’s rights in south-east Asia, in the context of her extensive experience working with refugee school-aged girls – and her personal link to Burma through a pen-pal relationship of over 12 years.

So please join us, as Melbourne PEN celebrates International Women’s Day.

 In Conversation with author Alice Pung

The Wheeler Centre,
State Library of Victoria

Thursday 28 March 2013
6:15PM – 7:15PM

For further information, and to reserve your place at this free event, click here.

Language plays a vital role in relation to identity, communication, social integration, education and development. It is estimated that, without measures to protect and promote minority and endangered languages, half of the 6000 plus languages spoken today will disappear by the end of this century, with 96 percent of these languages spoken by a mere 4 percent of the world’s population. 29 percent of the world’s languages are in danger, with a further 10 percent vulnerable, according to UNESCO. This year’s theme refers to the importance of language in accessing quality education and encourages UNESCO member states to promote instruction and education in the mother tongue.

International Mother Language Day originated to recognize the language movement day in Bangladesh, which has been commemorated in Bangladesh since 1952 to remember students’ struggle for the right to use their mother language. The day was declared by the General Conference of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on November 1999.

PEN International has been at the forefront of the campaign to ensure the protection and promotion of linguistic diversity. The Girona Manifesto, a tool to aid the dissemination and implementation of the Universal Declaration on Linguistic Rights (UDLR), was developed by PEN International’s Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee in May 2011, fifteen years after leading a coalition of civil-society and international organisations (including UNESCO) developed the UDLR at the 1996 World Conference on Linguistic Rights in Barcelona.

She tells stories of African women oppressed by poverty and their gender – in Europe and at home. But her prose is as alluring as her subjects are challenging; her characters empathetic and courageous.

For her second novel, On Black Sisters’ Street, Unigwe researched the lives of African women working in the European sex trade, exploring the complex social and economic reasons for their presence.

The New York Times has praised her ‘sly, generous humour’ and hailed her as a ‘latter-day Thackeray’.

This session is free but booking is recommended.

Book now.

Joyful Strains

Joyful Strains is edited by Kent MacCarter and Ali Lemer, and published by the fabulous Melbourne publisher Affirm Press. All profits from the ooks go to support the work of Melbourne PEN, so rush down to the launch and buy a copy. No, buy ten copies! It’s a fascinating collection of stories that throws new light on what being Australian means.

Read more about it here and make sure to buy the book.

Thursday 24 January, 6-8pm

Bella Union Bar, Trades Hall, Carlton VIC

There will be brief readings by Dmetri Kakmi, Maria Tumarkin and Amy Espeseth … as well as a few words from Kent MacCarter and Ali Lemer, the collection’s editors. Martin Hughes of Affirm Press and Arnold Zable of PEN Melbourne will kick off the event.

All profits from the sale of this book go to support PEN.

The blurb: “As with all shifts and turns in life, story matters. Joyful Strains collects 27 memoirs from writers describing their expatriation to Australia. Some have become household names, others quietly enrich their adopted home. All have had unique and fascinating experiences. These are stories about what they found, who they became and what they now think of Australia, providing entertainment, perspective and cause to celebrate our increasingly diverse nation. This is an insightful, compelling and sometimes confronting collection for all Australians.”

‘From the affectionate to the bitter to the hilariously funny to the probingly intelligent, this is a collection not to be missed.’ JM Coetzee

Read more about the book here: http://www.affirmpress.com.au/joyful-strains

An anthology of work by writers who migrated to Australia

Here is Melbourne PEN’s final Quarterly for 2012, with reports on the AGM and card writing event, the Melbourne Festival panels, Writers in Prison, the PEN Internatioal Congress and much more.

Download the PEN quarterly December 2012

Closing statements by members of Pussy Riot at their trial.

Engl_Closing statement Samutsevich

Engl_Closing statement Tolokonnikova

Engl_Punk Prayer[2]

The Hot Desk Fellowships also introduce you and your work to the public – we feature all our writers and their projects on our website. In 2012, some of our Hot Desk Fellows were approached by publishers interested in their work. Our writers have appreciated being part of a community of writers, as well as the productive space of a desk of their own.

In 2013, we will be offering four intakes. Applications are now open for the first two intakes of the fellowship: one starting 14 February 2013, the other starting 29 April 2013. Applications close Wednesday 9 January 2013. Application forms available on the website