Slovene pen centre – raising awareness of the role of literature in contemporary society

The slovene pen centre is a 94-year-old organisation, and part of pen international (140 centres). it is known for organising a large international writers' meeting at bled, slovenia, which is a pre-congress of pen international. it has been held continuously for 52 years. up to 80 pen members from all over the world attend each year. it founded the international writers for peace committee in 1984. it is also engaged in the icorn programme, offering a house of asylum to writers who are refugees. one of the strongest committees is dedicated to languages and translations. at bled it has hosted uighur and kurdish writers, writers from countries where languages are disappearing. slovene language is spoken by only 2 million people, so it understands the problem. linguistic rights were declared by pen to be "human rights". the so-called bled resolution established the right of every individual to live in peace. both have been recognised by the united nations. the pen wwc – women writers committee is dedicated to the equality of men and women, to the freedom of expression of individual identity (religion, gender), thus promoting diversity. all pen committees meet at bled and prepare for the international annual congress, which is held in different parts of the world. in this manner pen is truly global, not just eurocentric.