IN DEPTH
The PEN is mightier than the sword in the battle for intellectual freedom
CILIP Conference 2024 is set to take place on 10 and 11 July, with a return to Birmingham for the UK’s only cross-sector event for library, information and knowledge management professionals and leaders. The conference is an opportunity to come together as a community, build connections and strengthen networks. Book your place at
www.cilipconference.org.uk.
PROGRAMMING for this year’s CILIP Con- ference is well underway, and once again it will focus on topics and themes that matter to the sector. As we move beyond thoughts of Covid and recovery from the pandemic, the world is facing other challenges and opportunities where libraries, information and knowledge services can have a positive impact. Among the issues informing this year’s conference there will be a particu- lar focus on “intellectual freedom and its associated themes of freedom of expression, censorship and information rights”. Helping to explore some of those themes will be Daniel Gorman, Director of English PEN, an organi- sation that is focused on protecting human rights and freedom of expression. Daniel has been working in a broad movement that has linked arts and human rights for over 20 years, including as director of Fire- fly International, co-founder of Highlight Arts, and as co-director of Shubbak Festival. He joined English PEN as Director in 2019, and
says: “Back in 2014 I was working on a tour of Syrian authors to the UK (including the wonderful and much missed Khaled Khalifa). We were honoured to present that tour in partnership with English PEN, that was my first proper introduction to the organisa- tion, and following various partnerships when I was co-director of the Shubbak Festival, I became more and more engaged in the organisation. There’s no other organisation like PEN, working at that intersec- tion of literature and human rights, and the more I found out about the history of PEN, the details of the
30 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
Rob Green (
rob.green@
cilip.org.uk) is Editor of Information Professional
PEN Charter, the more intrigued I became.” English PEN is one of the oldest organisations working to protect human rights, as Daniel explains: “English PEN was founded by writers, for writers. We are one of the world’s oldest human rights organ- isations, and the first to point out that freedom of expression and literature are inseparable – a principle we continue to champion today.
“We campaign for writers across the world and celebrate contemporary international writing through events, prizes, our translation programme, and our online magazine PEN Transmissions. We envision a world in which freedom of expression and equity of opportunity for readers and writers can be enjoyed universally.”
That includes an international element, with more than 130 PEN centres in over 90 countries operating
March 2024
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