HISTORY
The Dutch writer A. den Doolaard (a pseudonym for Bob Spoelstra)—who played a prominent role in PEN International for many years and served as its vice-president—pointed out that one element was missing from the support provided: material assistance. He argued that this is precisely what many writers, whose freedom to work is severely curtailed, are in need of. Being prevented from writing, facing a boycott, being imprisoned, or being forced to flee also means a loss of income—not only for the writers themselves, but for their families as well. The concept for a dedicated “writers-in-distress” fund originated with Den Doolaard. In 1971, he established the PEN Emergency Fund, an international emergency fund based in the Netherlands. The fund provides one-time grants to writers who are severely persecuted or living in exile, enabling them—and, in specific cases, their families—to sustain themselves during a crisis. Each year, dozens of writers around the world receive assistance. The fund operates in close collaboration with PEN International, which utilizes professional researchers to gather the information upon which the fund bases its decisions and grants emergency aid. Den Doolaard conceived the PEN Emergency Fund as a means to bolster the financial capacity of the PEN organization. He chose to structure it as a fund under Dutch law, aiming to ensure that internal political or personal conflicts within PEN International could not influence the distribution of aid.
Initially, the fund served as a solidarity fund. Den Doolaard assumed that writers in free and affluent nations would be willing to support their peers—who were forced to work under far more difficult conditions—by contributing to a fund established to provide them with aid. In the early days, these efforts were primarily focused on Eastern Europe, where communist regimes employed censorship to silence political opponents and independent thinkers. Initially, donations were delivered by couriers traveling from the Netherlands and handed over in person—a process that was both costly and time-consuming.
By the time Bernlef assumed the role of chair in 1987, companies like Western Union had made it possible to transfer funds globally with ease and speed. However, this changed following the events of September 11, 2001, in New York. These events led to such money transfers—which had also played a significant role in financial transactions among terrorists—coming under the scrutiny of agencies like the CIA. Consequently, an organization like the PEN Emergency Fund, which frequently sent money to countries in the Middle East, Africa, and China, fell soon under suspicion. The fact that the fund’s transactions were exclusively for humanitarian aid to writers—provided under the auspices of a renowned and unimpeachable institution like PEN International—made little impression on security services. As a result, transfers via Western Union and similar services were subsequently blocked. Today, all funds are transferred exclusively through standard banking channels.
The arrival of Bernlef as the new chair in 1987 brought about a modernization of the organization’s structure. Although Bernlef—much like his predecessor, Borgers—retained personal control over the practical execution of tasks (alongside treasurer Honout), he significantly broadened the scope of the board. With the primary aim of strengthening the fund’s standing within the PEN network, he expanded the board to include members from a wide range of PEN centers—ideally those with greater financial resources. He hoped this would not only diminish the fund’s ‘Dutch’ image but also encourage these centers to increase their financial contributions. However, it soon became clear that the new board members were unable to secure significant additional funding; furthermore, the travel and accommodation costs associated with the biennial meetings of this international group consumed a disproportionately large share of the budget, leading to the decision to discontinue this approach. Fortunately, Bernlef succeeded in attracting new sponsors, such as Oxfam Novib and LIRA. This reduced the fund’s reliance on individual donations and contributions from various PEN centers—a welcome shift, given that the contributions from those individual centers were, in fact, declining. Under his leadership, the collaboration with the professional researchers of PEN International was also strengthened.
Thanks to its straightforward structure, the Emergency Fund is able to operate with exceptional speed and decisiveness—distinguishing it from almost all other organizations dedicated to assisting writers and journalists. At other NGOs, the decision-making process typically takes much longer, yet the amounts granted are no higher than those provided by the PEF. Furthermore, although the fund operates in a professional manner, it is still run entirely by volunteers. Moreover, there are no overhead costs, as there is no need to maintain expensive buildings.
The chairpersons who succeeded Den Doolaard included Gerrit Borgers—a professor of Dutch literature and chief curator of the Literature Museum—the author J. (Henk) Bernlef, and, from 2002 onwards, the author and professor emeritus Rudolf Geel. Jan Honout served as treasurer under all of these chairpersons. Rudolf Geel initiated a campaign to attract new sponsors. Organizations committed to freedom of expression—such as the Dutch Foundation for Democracy and Media (Nederlandse Stichting Democratie en Media) and the LIRA Fund—pledged their support. Oxfam Novib and the Gieskes-Strijbis Fund also supported the fund, but were eventually forced to withdraw their backing following a reduction in subsidies from the Dutch government. As the fund has been gradually drawing down its general reserves, the search for new financial backers continues under the current board, which has been in place since 2017. From 2017 through 2025, the executive board consisted of poet and educator Job Degenaar (chair) and Wim Jurg (treasurer). In 2026, Degenaar remained as chair for one additional year to complete his ten-year term. During the first quarter of 2026, board member Henske Marsman served as acting treasurer, and on April 1, 2026, Katrien Gottlieb assumed the role of treasurer. Paulien Loerts and Charles den Tex serve as the other board members. As of July 1, 2026, Gustaaf Peek has also joined the board. He will take over the chairmanship from Degenaar, effective January 1, 2027.
The criteria that the fund has applied since 2026 when evaluating requests for financial assistance are as follows.
She or he
is conscientious,
is a writer, a journalist with a literary background, a publisher, or a translator
is in immediate danger
is at risk due to the practice of their profession
