PEN Hong Kong

PEN Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港筆會) is one of the 148 centers of PEN International. Founded in 2016, it is a multilingual society of Hong Kong-based writers, poets, publishers, editors, translators, journalists and academics, aimed at promoting literature and defending the freedom of expression in Hong Kong.

PEN Hong Kong
Formation2016
TypeLiterary organization
PurposePromote literature and defend freedom of expression in Hong Kong and the rest of China
HeadquartersHong Kong
Region served
Hong Kong, China
Official language
English, Chinese
President
Tammy Lai-Ming Ho
Key people
Tammy Lai-Ming Ho (president), William Nee (vice president), Ilaria Maria Sala (vice president)
Parent organization
PEN International
Websitepenhongkong.org

The current president of PEN Hong Kong is Tammy Lai-Ming Ho. Other officers include Ilaria Maria Sala (Vice President), William Nee (Vice President) and Edmund Cheng (Secretary).[1]

History
Main articles: Censorship in Hong Kong and Human rights in Hong Kong

An English-language only PEN Hong Kong Center was founded in the 1980s by a number of Hong Kong-based expatriates. The organization was widely recognized for its work in the 1980s and 1990s providing assistance to writers who were Vietnamese refugees.[2][3] The center went inactive after key members of the organization left the city.

Founding members of PEN Hong Kong spoke at the Foreign Correspondents' Club launch event

In 2016, a number of prominent writers, journalists and academics came together to revive the Hong Kong Center, motivated in large part by the rapid erosion of press freedom, academic freedom, and the freedom of expression in general in Hong Kong.[4] High-profile incidents such as the knife attack on Kevin Lau, the Causeway Bay Books disappearances, the University of Hong Kong pro-vice-chancellor selection controversy have bolstered the need for a bilingual platform to bring together the Chinese language and English language literary circles which for years have been segregated due to the differences in language and readership.[5]

On 13 November 2016, PEN Hong Kong was officially launched at the Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong in conjunction with the Hong Kong International Literary Festival.[6]

Mission

The mission of PEN Hong Kong is to bring together individuals working in the field of the written word to celebrate and promote literature and creative expression. The organization is focused on defending the freedom of expression in Hong Kong and the rest of China.

References
  1. "Executive Committee Bios – PEN Hong Kong". www.penhongkong.org. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017.
  2. Hong Kong PEN. "Report on Vietnamese Writers in Hong Kong's Camps". No. October 1995. European Human Rights Foundation.
  3. PEN International. "International PEN appeals for 37 Vietnamese writers seeking asylum". No. 6 January 1995. International Freedom of Expression Exchange.
  4. Chiu, Peace. "Hong Kong writers relaunch literary group in face of unprecedented threat to free speech". No. 13 November 2016. South China Morning Post.
  5. Yuen, Chantal. "Relaunch of writers group PEN to defend freedom of expression in Hong Kong". No. 14 November 2016. Hong Kong Free Press.
  6. Press release. "Responding to threats to freedom of expression PEN re-launches in Hong Kong". No. 11 November 2016. PEN Hong Kong Publicity Committee.
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