Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee Meeting 2016

Photograph of PAN and TLRC meeting members courtesy of PEN International

On 10 and 11 March, PEN’s Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee (TLRC) met in Johannesburg for its annual meeting, which was held at the University of the Witwatersrand following the PEN Africa Network (PAN) meeting held there earlier that week.

PEN International have shared a letter that was read out at the meeting – a message of solidarity from Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o in which he shared his thoughts on publishing in African languages. Read wa Thiong’o’s letter here. They have also shared recordings from the event, which can be watched below.

PEN SA Board Member Carole Bloch, who is the Director of the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA), gave a talk on ‘The Importance of Mother Tongue Education and Children’s Literature in Africa’. Watch the discussion below:

Several of the PAN Centres, including PEN Afrikaans, presented on projects they’re working on to promote creative writing, critical thinking and African stories:

A Free the Word! event was held at The Orbit, featuring South African Poet Laureate and PEN SA member Keorapetse Kgositsile in conversation with Simona Škrabec, Chair of the TLRC. Watch the two videos of the fascinating discussion and Kgositsile’s readings: