P.E.N.

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24902, 15 June 1946, Page 5

P.E.N.

Storm’ P esTnond MacCarthy, and Miss St ° r E? Jameson his predecessor. I<m E n;,rf WaS T f ° unded in Britain in 1921, under John Galsworthy as the first president, to promote and mainot?r=t f k!n ndShlp and intellectual cou?or r >a tlon r a . mon " Writers all over the ■Weis' were H. G. vveiis, j. b. Priestley, and H W 1 9? ,9 there were six *y P.E.N. centres all over the- world throuJhffi7 the war P E ' N - in Britain. o,6 jnergy of its international secretary, Hermon Ould, had done t l °n aS . Si - St r Sj* gee writers who Britain. Their reliability was d for ,>. to ■ t . he satisfaction of the authorities and a special J?£y.B® e . "£ lters ' bureau was established. From the dark days of 1940 on, such activities in Britain were increased, while in Europe PEN members kept the spirit of the organisation alive underground. International Contacts Renewed Since the war P.E.N. has entered a great revival and one of the first post-war events was a visit by Hermon Ould and the novelist, E. M. r orster, to the conference of the PEN alliance centre, where problems disfussed „„ In ?’H ded the difficulty of India s 26 different literatures and the status of India’s writers. Last March the London P.E.N. entertained the French novelist, Georges Duhamel, permanent Secretary of the French Academy. Also last March at a dinner held to celebrate Child’s 20 years’ service as International Secretary, representatives of P.E.N. centres as far as p a Paz an d Reykjavik, Dublin and Bagdad, were present. Among countries where P.E.N. has been soundly re-established are France, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Italy. The International Presidential Committee of P.E.N. comprises Professor H. Shih, Professor Dems Saurat. Mr. H. G. Wells, Mr. Thornton Wilder, and Mr. Hermon Ould. WRITER AND PUBLISHER IN N.Z. A New Zealand P.E.N. booklet, The Author Publisher Relationship (A. H. and A. W. Reed: for the P.E.N.. N.Z. Centre), carries to a wider circle Mr A. W. Reed’s address to members at the Turnbull Library, last September. Mr Reed gave New Zealand writers much valuable information about the conditions in which' New Zealand publishers work, and much constructive and cautionary advice. It is a little odd that the question of contract terms is disposed of in a vague sentence or two.