Follow Joanne on Substack

Going forward, all my new blog posts will appear on Substack. This will give us a cleaner, more reliable way to stay connected.

PEN Journey 7: PEN in Times of War and Women on the Move

By Joanne Leedom-Ackerman / August 1, 2019 /

PEN International celebrates its Centenary in 2021. I’ve been active in PEN for more than 30 years in various positions and now as an International Vice President Emeritus. With memories stirring and file drawers of documents and correspondence bulging, I am a bit of a walking archive and have been asked by PEN International to write down…

PEN Journey 6: Freedom and Beyond…War on the Horizon

By Joanne Leedom-Ackerman / July 15, 2019 /

PEN International celebrates its Centenary in 2021. I’ve been active in PEN for more than 30 years in various positions and now as an International Vice President Emeritus. With memories stirring and file drawers of documents and correspondence bulging, I am a walking archive and have been asked by PEN International to write down memories. I hope…

PEN Journey 5: PEN in London, Early 1990’s

By Joanne Leedom-Ackerman / July 1, 2019 /

PEN International celebrates its Centenary in 2021. I’ve been active in PEN for more than 30 years in various positions and now as an International Vice President Emeritus. With memories stirring and file drawers of documents and correspondence bulging, I am a walking archive and have been asked by PEN International to write down memories. I hope…

PEN Journey 4: Freedom on the Move: West to East

By Joanne Leedom-Ackerman / June 11, 2019 /

PEN International celebrates its Centenary in 2021. I’ve been active in PEN for more than 30 years in various positions. With memories stirring and file drawers bulging, I am a bit of a walking archive and have been asked by PEN International to write down memories. I hope this personal PEN journey will be of interest.  …

PEN Journey 3: Walls About to Fall

By Joanne Leedom-Ackerman / June 3, 2019 /

PEN International celebrates its Centenary in 2021. I have been active in PEN for more than 30 years in various positions, including as Vice President, International Secretary and Chair of International PEN’S Writers in Prison Committee. With memories stirring and file drawers bulging, I am a bit of a walking archive and have been asked by PEN International…

PEN Journey 2: The Fatwa

By Joanne Leedom-Ackerman / May 21, 2019 /

PEN International celebrates its Centenary in 2021. I have been active in PEN for more than 30 years in various positions, including as Vice President, International Secretary and Chair of International PEN’S Writers in Prison Committee. With memories stirring and file drawers bulging with documents, I am a bit of a walking archive and have been…

PEN Journey 1: Engagement

By Joanne Leedom-Ackerman / May 15, 2019 /

PEN International celebrates its Centenary in 2021. As Vice President Emeritus of PEN International and former International Secretary, former Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee, former President of PEN Center USA West, board member and Vice President of PEN America and the PEN/Faulkner Foundation, I have been active in PEN for more than…

Duck for a Day

By Joanne Leedom-Ackerman / April 25, 2019 /

I passed two ducks strolling down the highway on Easter morning—large mallards waddling and chatting with each other, staying on their side of the white-lined shoulder, yet precariously close to the cars whizzing by. They appeared oblivious to the traffic. I wondered where they were going and where they thought they were. They were several…

Arc of History Bending Toward Justice?

By Joanne Leedom-Ackerman / March 20, 2019 /

PEN International was started modestly almost 100 years ago in 1921 by English writer Catherine Amy Dawson Scott, who, along with fellow writer John Galsworthy and others conceived that if writers from different countries could meet and be welcomed by each other when traveling, a community of fellowship could develop. The time was after World…

One More Voice

By Joanne Leedom-Ackerman / February 25, 2019 /

I thought about ending this blog. The final post: December, 2018—just over ten years, over 100 posts. Informal reflections on a decade. Since February, 2008 when I first attempted this new form and posted, the volume of blogs around the globe has proliferated to an immeasurable dimension. Today with blogs, podcasts, Facebook posts, LinkedIn, Twitter,…

Archives

Categories