Independent Chinese PEN Center

Manassas (VA)USA
Written By Simon Nielsen

Member organization

Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC) is a nongovernmental, nonprofit and nonpartisan organization beyond borders based on free association of those who write, edit, translate, research and publish literature work in Chinese worldwide.

 

Location: Manassas (VA), USA

Contact

ICPC has been a member organization of PEN International since November 2001. There are currently 265 members, over 140 residing within mainland China.

In the spirit of PEN International’s Charter, ICPC’s goal is to promote Chinese literature and defend freedom of expression worldwide as a crucial element of a healthy and vibrant civil society in general, and to work as a strong, independent voice defending civil liberties in China in particular. As the probably sole surviving independent NGO based on its main membership in mainland China, ICPC makes vigorous efforts to promote/defend the freedoms to write/publish and the free flow of information in China with its links to world, to support the writers at risk there, and is deeply concerned about the state of civil society and open discourse as the basis for human rights and constitutional democracy there. Through the worldwide PEN network and its own membership base in China and abroad, ICPC is able to mobilize international attention to the plight of writers and editors within China attempting to write and publish with a spirit of independence and integrity, regardless of their political views, ideological standpoint or religious beliefs.

Meet ICPC here:

Featured
For My Daughter And Another & For One Song And A Hundred Songs
For My Daughter And Another & For One Song And A Hundred Songs

“To sing a song/The guard with an electric baton in his hand/Ordered me to sing 100 songs.” Liao Yiwu, a prominent poet, reportage writer and folk musician, was arrested for publishing his long poem Massacre and other works to commemorate the Beijing Massacre of 1989, and later sentenced to four years imprisonment on counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement.

Grief And Other Poems
Grief And Other Poems

“To stay alive, is a true miracle .” Shi Tao, a journalist, writer and poet, was sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years in 2005 for releasing a document of the Communist Party to an overseas Chinese democracy site after Yahoo! China provided his personal details to the Chinese government.

Ninety Kilometres in Distance
Ninety Kilometres in Distance

“When the night's chill hit me through the iron window, I seemed to see a row of iron bars between us – the father and son, weeping towards each other; I seemed to see my boy who had lost his father’s guidance turning evil under gangsters’ control and fooling around on the streets all day...” Du Daobin, a government official, writer, and freelancer, was arrested in 2003 for internet writings and sentenced to imprisonment for “inciting subversion of state power”.

From Me In Rain & Other Poems
From Me In Rain & Other Poems

“Put out the lamp/ Let only the cigarette burn the night’s coldness/ Spill the wine out the window to the night/ Let the darkness get drunk/ To vomit out another dawn/ A daybreak when perhaps there will be news.” Dr. Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia, husband and wife, writers and activists, were imprisoned, put under house arrest, and separated by the Chinese authorities as a consequence of their struggle for human rights. Deprived of social contact and community interaction, the couple had nothing left to do but imagine a life beyond confinement.

Candies
Candies

“Several days after that, on the way to school or at home, Droma would quietly take out the half candy to lick it gently. Sometimes when there were no others around at school, she would quietly take it out and lick it a few times. Sometimes at home she would take it out to let her brother lick it a few times and put it back. The sheep dog often stared at Drolma's hands with its big and black eyes, sitting still with an expectant look.” Yang Tongyan (April 12, 1961 - November 5, 2017), a famous dissident writer and social activist better known as Yang Tianshui, was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for “subverting state power” because of his critical essays on overseas websites, as well as his political activism.

There Is A Wall Outside the Window - Essays from Prison
There Is A Wall Outside the Window - Essays from Prison

“The spring arrived and the earth became light green. At the foot of the high wall, there emerged a patch of tiny grass in light green. Without sunshine, the grass grew thin and yellow. Every day, I concentrated on this patch of light green.” Kang Yuchun, a doctor and writer, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for political issues in 1992.

A Beauty Condemned To Death
A Beauty Condemned To Death

“Living in the dormitory without any privacy will inevitably create contradiction and hostility, which constrain human nature and twist human character. Anyone who has ever lived in a dormitory has an intimate knowledge about this. Half a dozen people living together in a room less than 10 square meters over the years is incredible to those who live in a free world. However, in China, you have to bear this for a long time.” Zhang Lin, a dissident writer and social activist, was arrested in 1994 and then sentenced to three years of Reeducation-Through-Labor after contacting foreign journalists about human rights violations near his home village.

A Travel Report
A Travel Report

“ (…) in my days there are beetles/a dream of stardom, the city of Nanjing/and a pair of hands to bury the ruins.” Shi Tao, a journalist, writer and poet, was sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years in 2005 for releasing a document of the Communist Party to an overseas Chinese democracy site after Yahoo! China provided his personal details to the Chinese government. How does the imprisoned travel? What’s his community? Tao reports from a half-buried landscape.

A Testimony to the Final Beauty - An Eyewitness’ Diary on TAM Square in 1989
A Testimony to the Final Beauty - An Eyewitness’ Diary on TAM Square in 1989

“Roadblock! Roadblock! Roadblock! The students shouted and rushed to the Square West Road and Chang'an Avenue, chasing the tank – actually a light armored vehicle – and throwing soda-water bottles, bricks, and even the pens and books. The vehicle seemed confused for a moment, and then made a sudden U-turn, running away along its previous route towards West Qianmen Street.” Environmentalist, writer, and editor, Tan Zuoren, reimagines a turning point in the life of a Chinese square.

Featured
Someone Who Dies In A Vision
Someone Who Dies In A Vision

“[A] vision/you said/that is to imitate ghosts in order to live.” Where does real life begin? What is real life? What is home? Exiled Chinese poet, Yang Lian, examines the world of the dead and of the living.

A Little Mouse In Prison
A Little Mouse In Prison

Dr. Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia, husband and wife, writers and activists, were imprisoned, put under house arrest, and separated by the Chinese authorities as a consequence of their struggle for human rights. Deprived of social contact and community interaction, the couple had nothing left to do but imagine a life beyond confinement. Dr. Xiaobo received the Nobel Prize in 2010 but could not attend the ceremony. He died from cancer 2017. Xia sought refuge in Germany and has continued her artistic practice.

Simon Nielsen
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