I LIKE TO SHARE with the literary community of Bohol the invitation I received from Philippine PEN to the International Conference on December 4-5, 2010 in Cebu City. The Philippine PEN is a member of International PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Essayists, Novelists) with Centers in some 150 countries worldwide. The PEN Philippine Center celebrated its golden anniversary in December 2007.  Its founding was marked by a national writers' conference, the first of its kind after the war, held for two days in Baguio City in December 1958 and attended by distinguished literary people and intellectuals from all over the country including Senator Claro M. Recto and President Carlos P. Garcia.  The conference organizer and also Philippine PEN founder was F. Sionil Jose, now National Artist for Literature.  Among the conference participants were, later to become National Artists for Literature: Francisco Arcellana, N.V.M. Gonzalez, Bienvenido Lumbera, Alejandro Roces and Edith Tiempo.

In its 50 years, the Philippine PEN has organized and sponsored such activities as literary readings, workshops, meet-the-author series, seminars, and conferences in Manila and in the provinces. It has hosted the visits or held receptions for distinguished writers from abroad, such as Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Richard Kim, Lin Yutang, Khushwant Singh, Hirabayashi Taiko, Hayako Sono, Norman Mailer, Gunter Grass, Mario Vargas Llosa, Mochtar Lubis, Edwin Thumboo, Juan Gelman, and many others. PEN also organized two regional Asian Writers conferences in Manila, and published several anthologies including an Asian PEN Anthology. During the Marcos dictatorship, PEN stood in defense of the freedom of expression and speech. This is an avowed purpose as embodied in the International PEN Charter.

This year, Philippine PEN will mark its 53 rd year with an international conference on December 4-5, 2010 in Cebu City, Philippines. This two-day conference, the theme of which is “Solidarity in Literature without Borders,” aims to gather not only Filipino writers in the archipelago, but also writers from the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas.  The Jose Rizal Lecture, the highlight of the conference, will be delivered by eminent writer and intellectual Dr. Resil Mojares.   PEN is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more info, you may email Philippine PEN at philippinepen@yahoo.com or visit/call Philippine PEN, Solidaridad Bookstore, 531 Padre Faura St., Ermita, Manila, Philippines, Telefax: +632.525.5038. A notification will be sent to you once your application has been reviewed by a membership committee and approved by the Philippine PEN Board of Directors. Lito B. Zulueta is the National Secretary of Philippine PEN.