Cirrus@Austlit

'Since the 83rd PEN Congress in Lviv last October, the author and human rights lawyer Philippe Sands, who was its key-note speaker, has visited Sydney off the back of his phenomenal tracing of the main terms of international law – back to the Nuremberg trials which followed WW11 atrocities. It becomes necessary to ask: what is the state of international behaviour at the present moment that concerns PEN?' (Zoe Rodriguez, President's Report, introduction)

'The 2017 PEN International Congress in Lviv opened soberly with the honouring of long-time PEN case list member Liu Xiaobo. Afterwards came acknowledgement of PEN campaigners from across the world who had died in the previous year – Rosie Scott was, of course, among the writers honoured and remembered. Twenty months after the horrific murder of 12 staff members at the offices of satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, the Congress grappled with the tension contained in PEN’s charter between our core commitment to freedom of expression and our commitment as PEN members to dispel hatred. A legalistic paper generated out of the PEN International Peace Committee failed to secure immediate support, and a consultative group from across PEN’s membership has been formed to draft a paper for consideration at the 2018 Congress.' (President's Report introduction)

President’s Letter

As this magazine goes to print we have received the saddest news – our beloved Rosie Scott died on 4 May. She was such a champion for the marginalised and supportive of colleagues old and young. A Sydney PEN life-member, Rosie leaves a significant legacy for us to build on. She was a PEN person through and through, and an example of what compassion, intelligence and a willingness to work hard can achieve. Her anthologies of and about asylum seekers made sure this topic was discussed.

Sadly, this is also a time to pay tribute to two other fine women writers who were great friends with Rosie, the mother and daughter Anne Deveson and Georgia Blain who died within days of each other. I knew Anne from over two decades ago when we had a lively discussion over dinner about a documentary she wanted to make about the Middle East. She wanted to interview women politicians from Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, etc. and had told me she was going to call it ‘the politics of peace’. I couldn’t wait to see it screened. Sadly September 11 occurred and she told me it was no longer a possibility. She continued to write about this topic and many others. These were all women committed to telling important stories and asking questions about society, and the place of women and other marginalised groups in contemporary life.'