The International PEN Poem Relay Carries the Torch
 for Freedom of Expression in China

www.penpoemrelay.org

The International PEN Poem Relay is focussed around the poem “June” by the imprisoned poet and journalist Shi Tao and seeks to raise awareness about freedom of expression in China in a uniquely PEN way – through poetry and translation.

PEN Centres around the world have translated and recorded “June” in more than 60 languages and, using the internet as its main instrument, the poem will virtually “travel” around the world, from centre to centre, language to language, adding new translations as it goes and ending in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics.

Shi Tao is serving a 10-year sentence in prison on the charge of “illegaly providing state secrets abroad”. He was convicted for an email he sent to an overseas website using a Yahoo! email account after Yahoo! provided the Chinese authorities with his identity.

The poem “June” is a meditation on the tragedy of the military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests in June 4, 1989, which remains a censored topic in China. (Please see the attachment for more about Shi Tao and to read the poem.)

“Translators and poets at PEN centres around the world are using the spirit of the Olympics to bring to life Shi Tao’s message in the languages of the world,” said Eugene Schoulgin, International Secretary of International PEN . “As the poem spreads from language to language, we spread our concern for freedom of expression in China and the writers who are languishing in its jails.”

The special website www.penpoemrelay.org presents a map of the world showing the progress of the poem relay, which takes its cue from the Olympic Torch Relay itinerary.

The website will be launched today, March 25. As the Olympic Torch is lighted and starts it journey across Greece towards Athens, the poem “June” then will “virtually” leave Taiyuan City, Shi Tao’s hometown and “travel to Greece”. On March 30, the poem arrives at Greek PEN Centre (at the same time the Olympic Torch arrives in Panathinaiko Stadium in Greece). Visitors to the website will be able to see the Greek translation text, and hear it recited in Greek. Visitors to the website will also be able to see (and hear) the poem in its original Mandarin as well as in English, French and Spanish, the working languages of International PEN.

After March 30, visitors to the website can track the poem’s progress around the globe and read and hear new translations as the poem arrives at each new centre. The poem has been translated into more than 60 languages. These include Adnyamathanha, one of Australia’s Indigenous languages; Wolof, one of the most widely spoken languages in Senegal; Tamazight, a Berber language spoken in Algeria, Morocco, Niger, Mali and Libya; Basque; Uyhgur; Tibetan; Chechen; in addition to major languages such as Japanese, Russian and others.

“The translation of this poem into the world’s languages is a testament to our concern for Shi Tao, to our concern for the many other writers in prison in China, and to our respect for the Chinese people and their literary creativity,” said Sydney PEN’s Chip Rolley, translator of the poem to English and one of the organizers of the relay.

“In the spirit of the Olympics and the international cooperation it embodies, Shi Tao’s poem ‘June’ is a torch in its own right,” said Swiss German PEN’s Kristin Schnider, also one of the organizers of the relay. “It’s a light for freedom of expression, the celebration of poetry and linguistic diversity, and a beacon for writers who are under pressure or imprisoned.”

As the poem arrives at each centre, local events will be arranged and publicised so that people around the world can participate and have their voices joined in calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all writers and journalists currently imprisoned and, especially, for an end to the practice of detaining, harassing, and censoring writers and journalists in China.

“Shi Tao’s case is a great way to examine the sincerity of Beijing's promise of press freedom in China,” noted Yu Zhang, the Coordinator of the Writers in Prison Committee of Independent Chinese PEN Centre and one of the organizers of the relay. “As long as Shi Tao and other writers and journalists on PEN’s case list are still behind bars, his poem ‘June’ will be a reminder of the reality behind the Beijing Olympic motto ‘One World, One Dream’."

The website will be constantly updated to keep visitors informed about the progress of the poem and about Shi Tao and other cases of imprisoned writers in China International PEN is monitoring. On March 25, you will be able to access the website: www.penpoemrelay.org

The International PEN Poem Relay is the first of many activities, calling for the release of writers we deem to be in prison in contravention of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China became a signatory in 1998.

For information on further activities in the International PEN Writers in Prison Committee China campaign, please contact Sara Whyatt, Programme Director of International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee. For inquiries about the PEN Poem Relay, contact Chip Rolley, Kristin T. Schnider or Yu Zhang. All contact details are below.

International PEN Poem Relay is a Joint action by the Sydney, Independent Chinese and Swiss German PEN Centres on behalf of International PEN.

Available for interview:

About the International PEN Poem Relay:

About Writers in Prison in China:                                                              

Shi Tao, poet, journalist, and Independent Chinese PEN member

Shi Tao is one of the dissident writers whose downfall was the advanced technology used to monitor, survey and track down individuals who are seen to violate Chinese laws by exercising their freedom of expression on the internet.

He was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for "illegaly providing state secrets abroad". In April 2004, Shi Tao took notes on a document read aloud at an editorial meeting of the Dangdai Shangbao (Contemporary Commerce News) at which he was present.

The notes referred to a directive issued by China Party's Propaganda Department that instructed the media how to cover the 15th anniversary of the military crackdown on June 4, 1989 in Beijing shutting down the Tiananmen Square protests.

He sent those notes to an overseas website using a Yahoo! email account. According to court documents, Yahoo! (Hong Kong) Holdings Ltd provided the Chinese authorities with Shi Tao's identity. PEN believes this conviction and sentencing are in contravention to Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (to which China became a signatory in 1998) and Article 19 of the Declaration of Human Rights.

The poem ‘June’ was written on June 9, 2004, shortly after the 15^th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests and just less than two months after Shi Tao sent that fateful email.

Home