Des de 1922, defensem la llibertat d'expressió i els drets lingüístics, salvaguardem el patrimoni literari català i promovem el diàleg intercultural.
Since 2006, PEN Català has coordinated the Writers In Refuge Programme. This programme, with its roots in the Shelter Cities programme which was promoted by the International Parliament of Writers, aims to host a writer who is threatened, persecuted or at risk of being imprisoned as a consequence of their writing.
PEN Català promotes literary translation to overcome the linguistic barrier that prevents understanding between people and cultures. It works for both the promotion of Catalan literature in the world and to support the translation of universal literary works into Catalan. It is within this framework that the digital magazine Visat is published.
PEN is committed to the respect of all languages, and the protection and promotion of minority languages. PEN's central and guiding principles on linguistic rights are laid out in the Girona Manifesto, promoted by PEN Català.
PEN Català monitors human rights violations against writers, editors, translators and journalists around the world and organises campaigns to support them.
You can become a full member if you are a writer in any field, journalist, editor or translator and share the founding values of PEN.
If you are not a writer and want to join the defense of languages and freedom of expression, you can be part of the Circle of Friends of PEN.
Help us continue to defend language and freedom of expression.
Sí! El nostre web s'adapta a dispositius mòbils, però encara està en desenvolupament. Per veure-la ara correctament, consulta-la des d'una mida de pantalla major de 1100px ; )
Dessale Berekhet was born in Eritrea in the mid-1970’s. He has dedicated his working life to journalism, literature and to the promotion of the Tigre and Tigrinya languages through radio programmes and two independent newspapers, in which he wrote weekly opinion columns. In terms of more literary work, he has published two cultural books and five children’s’ books.
As a journalist, he has turned his texts into a weapon against the injustice and widespread lack of democracy in his country, In 2001 the regime of dictator Isaias Afwerki, in an unprecedented and forceful move, banned all private press and the situation became stifling for any media not fully aligned with the regime. Dessale founded the Tigre-language magazine, Takiyat, which, due to the political situation, was short-lived. He bore witness to the imprisonment and persecution of many of his friends and colleagues, which led him into self-imposed exile in Uganda. From there, in partnership with other Eritrean journalists, he launched the website www.unitedheartz.com, with the aim of providing free and truthful information. The website was, however, shut down.
Currently, he is the Writer In Refuge in the Norwegian city of Bø, which forms part of the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN), along with Barcelona and Girona. Recently, he founded Eritrean PEN.