anmeldung

TO THE SECRETARIES OF ALL CENTRES 23^rd July 2004

Dear Friends,

The Honours system of International PEN

As you may recall from the material circulated following the meeting of the Assembly of Delegates in Mexico City in November last year, the Assembly took the decision to review the office of International Vice President. The text of the adopted Recommendation read:

The Assembly of Delegates of International PEN, meeting at its 69^th Congress in Mexico City, Mexico, 22 – 28 November 2003,

Endorses the decision of the Board to declare a temporary official moratorium on the appointment of International Vice Presidents;

Decides to review the question of Vice Presidents and Honorary Members of International PEN;

Decides to invite current Vice Presidents to comment on these proposals;

Decides to initiate a formal consultation process with the Centres on these proposals; and

Requests the Board to report on them with a Recommendation to the Assembly of Delegates in 2004.

In presenting the Recommendation to the Assembly, Judith Rodriguez, Deputy Chair of the Board, explained that the Board’s intention was to open a discussion on the office of Vice President: because the maximum number of 20 had been reached, no further nominations could be made; and Vice Presidents filled several different functions for International PEN – some were very eminent writers, others were nominated for their years spent in PEN’s service, still others were a happy combination of the two. She reported that the Board had therefore decided to recommend that the office of Vice President be considered in such a way as to make it possible to honour more people, and perhaps to make a distinction between the kinds of service they might be asked to perform for PEN. This the Assembly had agreed.

Rather later than we had hoped and intended, a proposed Honours system is now ready, and the Board has submitted a Recommendation for debate by the Assembly in Tromsø. Although this can be found among the Resolutions and Recommendations included in this mailing, I am attaching it also to this letter so that it is separately available to you for your advance consideration. Please do send any comments you may have to the London Office by Friday 27^th August.

With best wishes,

Terry Carlbom

International Secretary

Recommendation on the Honours System of International PEN, submitted by the Board

The Assembly of Delegates of International PEN, meeting at its 70^th International Congress in Tromsø, Norway, 6^th – 12^th September 2004,

Having declared a moratorium in November 2003 on the election of new Vice Presidents, as the upper limit of 20 had been reached, and

Having decided to review the question of Vice Presidents and Honorary Members of International PEN, initiated a formal consultation process with the Centres on these proposals and requested the Board to report on them with a Recommendation to the Assembly of Delegates in 2004:

Decides to amend the Honorary Membership of International PEN, to be finalised after due process by the Assembly of Delegates in 2005, replacing the present Articles 19 and 20 of the Regulations and Rule 13 of the Rules of Procedure with the proposals below;

Requests the Board to invite present Vice Presidents to join an appropriate list of names for Honorary Membership if they so wish; and further, subject to approval in 2005,

Requests the Board to submit to the Assembly of Delegates in 2005 an appropriate list of names for categories II and III, to be voted on at that same Assembly of Delegates.

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Proposals for the Honours system of International PEN

The Board proposes that the following system be introduced, here expressed as Articles to be adopted into the present Regulations in 2005:

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[Regulations]

Section B Honorary Members of International PEN

Honorary Members, including Honorary Members belonging to the former category of Vice President, may attend Congresses and participate in the Assembly of Delegates, and shall perform such duties and carry out such responsibilities as may be requested by the Board or the International President.

Article 19 Honorary Members

(a) Category I, Past Presidents. Every person who has held the position of President of International PEN shall belong to a special category of Honorary Members called Past Presidents.

(b) Category II, Honorary Member for Services to PEN. An individual who has with distinction served International PEN may be elected as Honorary Member of International PEN for Services to PEN. Each Member is elected for life.

(c) Category III, Honorary Member for Services to Literature. A writer of international distinction may be elected as Honorary Member of International PEN for Services to Literature. Their number may not exceed fifteen. Each Member shall serve a term of fifteen years, and is eligible for re-election subject to the election rules.

Article 20 Election of Honorary Members of International PEN

An individual may belong to only one of the categories of Honorary Members, and may not be nominated again after failing to achieve entry to elected Honorary Membership. A candidate for these categories shall be nominated by at least three Centres, and the candidacy must be approved by majority agreement of the Board. Their election shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions laid down in Rule 13 of the Rules of Procedure.

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[Rules of Procedure]

Rule 13 Election of Honorary Members

(a) Nominations as Honorary Member shall, as described in Article 20 of the Regulations, be submitted to the Secretariat not less than three months in advance of the proposed date of election, or such shorter period as the Board may decide. Nominations shall include a short explanatory note about the candidate and the reasons for his or her nomination. Any announcement making public the names of candidates whose nominations are not approved by the Board, as required under Article 20 of the Regulations rests with the discretion of the Board.

(b) The Administrative Director shall inform all Centres as soon as possible, but not later than 9 weeks before the date of election, of such candidates as have the support of the Board, and shall circulate the notes mentioned in paragraph (a) above.

(c) The election shall be held by secret ballot at a meeting of the Assembly of Delegates. Each Centre entitled to vote shall receive an official ballot at least six weeks before the date of election. Ballots may be brought to the meeting by delegates or submitted by post, e.mail or fax to reach the International Secretariat not later than one week before the election. To be elected the candidate must receive a majority which is not less than two-thirds of the total votes cast.

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