We are the Canadian chapter of PEN International, founded in England in 1921 to represent “Poets, Essayists and Novelists.” PEN International was conceived by Mrs. C.A. Dawson Scott and the first PEN Club was founded shortly thereafter in London by Mrs. Scott and John Galsworthy, who would become PEN International’s first President. They established the following aims:
- To promote intellectual co-operation and understanding among writers;
- To create a world community of writers that would emphasize the central role of literature in the development of world culture; and,
- To defend literature against the many threats to its survival which the modern world poses.
PEN has endured as the only world-wide organization of writers. It has grown to include centres on six continents, which sponsor International PEN Congresses held at least once a year.
The first PEN centre in Canada was founded in 1926 in Montreal. In 1983, the English-language centre, PEN Canada, moved to Toronto, while the French-speaking Centre quebecois du PEN continues its work in Montreal. The two Canadian PEN centres collaborate on various issues. Since then, PEN Canada has expanded to include journalists, playwrights, publishers, translators, editors and screenwriters. PEN Canada is one of the most active of the 141 centres of PEN International.