PEN International
PEN (an abbreviation of Poets, Essayists, Novelists/Playwrights, Editors and Non- Fiction Writers) is a worldwide organization of and for writers, who feel strongly about freedom of expression and the free exchange of literature. More than 140 PEN centers exist in well over 100 countries. The main office is located in London.
PEN Emergency Fund
Based in the Netherlands, the now globally operating PEN Emergency Fund was founded by the writer A. den Doolaaard in 1971. It supports seriously persecuted writers and journalists, sometimes living in exile, with a once-only allowance that helps them (and in special cases, their families) to make ends meet when, for instance, they need to flee the country immediately or require urgent medical attention following abuse. Every year dozens of writers throughout the world are provided with aid. The fund operates in close collaboration with experienced investigators at PEN International. Its day-to-day board consists of two volunteers who, in very urgent cases, are able to transfer money even as early as the day on which the request has been made and approved. There are no costly salaries, no costly buildings and the fund’s overhead costs are low: which means that all of the money donated by you will end up going directly to these seriously threatened champions of free speech.
In 2019 and 2020 the fund was able to help 65 authors in distress.
PEN Emergency cooperates with: PEN International http://www.pen-international.org/ and PEN Netherlands http://pennederland.nl/
PEN Emergency Fund is among others supported by Stichting Lira Fonds http://www.lira.nl/
