Vol. 1 No. 2 (2021): Beginnings
Articles

Book Reviewing Old Beginnings: Marjorie Watts' P.E.N. The Early Years 1921-1926

Dan Horatiu Popescu
Partium Christian University, Department of Languages and Literatures

Published 2021-12-09

Keywords

  • writers’ organizations,
  • centenary,
  • political activism,
  • socializing,
  • nostalgia

How to Cite

Book Reviewing Old Beginnings: Marjorie Watts’ P.E.N. The Early Years 1921-1926. (2021). Papers in Arts and Humanities, 1(2), 147-150. https://doi.org/10.52885/pah.v1i2.89

Abstract

This review of a 1971 book is meant to invite readers to reflect on the role P.E.N. International—a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote literature and intellectual co-operation among writers—might have given the increasing challenges in our contemporary society. Describing the beginnings of the organization, the book marked P.E.N.’s Golden Jubilee. Therefore, I felt it appropriate to discuss some of the issues it addressed—that is, socializing vs. political activism—as this year, P.E.N. International turned 100.