Jean Louw’s Reflections on the PEN International 81st Congress

Pictured: Raymond and Jean Louw

PEN South Africa Vice-President Raymond Louw’s wife, Jean Louw, attended a PEN Congress for the first time. The following are some of her impressions of what took place.

Read Raymond article on the Resolutions passed at Congress here and Centre Co-ordinator Lindsay Callaghan’s reflections on the Congress here.

Attending a PEN conference for the first time I was deeply moved by the breadth of care and support for incarcerated writers and for their families. The detailed descriptions of the severity of the sentences meted out to writers and the inhumane conditions under which they are held struck me forcibly. I was not aware of the extent to which PEN upholds support for the prisoners and I feel that this aspect of its work should be more widely publicised.

The concept of the empty chair is chilling especially when one is cognisant of the extremely harsh sentences and how families suffer under these conditions. The minutes of silence on a freezing cold morning for imprisoned writers in the Place d’Youville emphasised this and led to a deeper understanding.

The other aspect of the conference which impressed me was how the comparatively settled European and American members and those from the turmoil of Africa, the East and the Middle East came together over issues and discussed them fervently. Living in South Africa, of course, I am familiar with chaotic conditions but I was very surprised by the common interest displayed by PEN members.

On a lighter note the evening we spent listening to an address by Jung Chang, the author of Wild Swans, followed by the readings of Chinese poetry were very moving. Chang’s reading of excerpts from her book was delivered handsomely and with a bubbly sense of humour, despite the dreadful conditions which her book describes. The poetry was powerful, particularly as it was read by the poets themselves and certainly conveyed the harshness of life under Mao.

I found the conference a deeply interesting experience – one I shall remember.