The Writers for Peace Committee, founded in 1984, is a committee of PEN International. Each year, the committee meets in Bled, Slovenia, with this year’s meeting (April 7-10, 2025) focusing on the climate emergency and war. Kim Echlin is a Canadian novelist, translator, editor and teacher, and a member of the board of PEN International. Kim attended the annual meeting as a member the committee.
by Kim Echlin
PEN is a dynamic place to be right now.
The 57th International Meeting of the Writers for Peace Committee this month hosted powerful witness and action in response to conflict around the world. Delegates from Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East held wide-ranging discussions about war and the complexity and dangers of writing about the environment. Huge thanks and praise are due to our host, Tanja Tuma of PEN Slovenia for her hospitality and extraordinary organization.
Delegates were also updated on PEN’s work for writers-in-prison and writers-in-exile. The full case list is a fascinating read. Common threads in every region are censorship and digital repression, an area in which PEN Canada has taken leadership with its cutting-edge work.
The Bleeding Borders of Europe in our Interconnected World
In his keynote address, the Italian novelist Paolo Giordano (author of How Contagion Works) described travelling to Ukraine, Greenland, Georgia, Israel and the West Bank as an act of “witness to borders” and he drew compelling parallels between the “bleeding” Europe’s borders and the borderlessness of climate change. He also spoke about narrative propaganda, part of state silencing, and on issues as varied as climate change denial and the undermining of LGBTQ+ rights. Giordano is working on collaborative international PEN projects that will focus on mounting a literary defence against a variety of invasions, militaristic, digital, environmental.
Defy Silencing: Take a Position
Germán Rojas (PEN Chile), chair of the Writers for Peace Committee which now includes writers from every continent, spoke passionately about conflict prevention as well as the dangers of writing about climate change. He insisted that we cannot fear criticism for taking sides on issues, that we must use the writer’s voice and influence to practice cultural activism through dialogue and negotiation. Leading by example, he has been collaborating with the PEN International Women Writers Committee under its new chair, Judyth Hill. Germán also pledged to speak out against potential conflict, as the committee has done with its public resolutions on the signs of potential conflict in Serbia
Planetary Thinking from a War Zone
Iryna Starovoyt of PEN Ukraine described her ongoing travel with “book buses” to bombed-out areas where young people are taking the lead with community-based projects. She described Ukraine’s “planetary thinking” while still in an active war zone as writers study the impact of war on the environment. She warned against the acceptance of impunity for invading countries. Along with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she noted American threats to annex Greenland and Canada and said, chillingly, “Canada is a second Ukraine.” Then, she read a poem and reminded us, “We in Ukraine don’t want to be proud; we want to be where we belong.”
International Disorder Back Toward Connectedness
Throughout the meetings, writers spoke to reclaim narrative from government propaganda. Miquel Angel Llauger (PEN Català) explained how climate denial threatens the world’s environmental interconnectedness and Judyth Hill (PEN San Miguel) spoke about an intersectional world in which writers resist by restorying in order to restore, by taking responsibility in order to respond.
The new Writers for Peace resolution will be titled “The Present International Disorder and Threats to Peace.” It will focus on the failure of international law and the erosion of civil liberties. What is the value of a treaty that is not upheld? Think of the imminent threat against Taiwan as the U.S. fails to uphold its military protection. Think of the consequences of ignoring International Humanitarian Law (IHL) or the laws of war in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and other places. This resolution will include forced migration due to climate-change, transnational digital persecution and the importance of communication and imagination in finding solutions. An initial statement: As Writers for Peace, we condemn conflict that rejects dialogue and compromise.
Young PEN and Dialogue Across Borders
The lively Young PEN Slovenia was local, national and transnational, led by interim chair of PEN Young Writers Committee, Ayi Renaud Dossavi (PEN Togo). With energy and humour, they discussed slam poetry tournaments, international writing competitions and publishing from Togo to Slovenia. They discussed media and marketing and expressed their commitment to supporting each other’s writing communities. If there are young writers in Canada who’d like to be in touch with this group, they will welcome you. Just contact me.
Where There is Poetry There is Joy
The work of the Writers for Peace Committee has never been so necessary, especially in the context of American authoritarianism which now includes the “cleansing” of certain words from official communications including woman, gender, gay, advocacy, elderly, and climate change, among dozens of others. In Canada we need to continuously work against book censorship in our schools.
When we live in a time of self-silencing, it is time to speak. When we live in a time of fear, it is time to find courage and character.
I’ll finish this brief report with an image of joy. One early morning we travelled on a noisy train through the mountains, entertaining each other with short readings. Our words were often drowned out by other passengers and the noise of passing through dark tunnels. But with laughter and jokes we pressed on. The last speaker, Boris Novak (PEN Slovenia), stood. He has suffered war and loss, and worked with generations of students and refugees. A passenger began to move through the car interrupting his reading. Boris seized the stranger’s hand in a warm handshake. At the same moment, the train emerged from a dark tunnel into the mountain light. Still holding the man’s hand, Boris commanded the entire train car in a voice strong as golden oak, “Quiet, please! I am reading a poem!”
Further reading:
- Identity on Trial: Persecution and Resistance, the PEN International Case List 2025
- Digital Transnational Repression, the PEN Canada Annual Report 2023
