UEL PEN 2015 - Setting The Tone

Posted: Friday, 16 October 2015 by Unknown in Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Hello and welcome to a new year of UEL English PEN, the final straw that broke the back of student apathy on campus. At our first official meeting (and chance to swap summer stories) we opened the floor to our members, new and old, to have a discussion about the direction that UEL PEN will take this year. In between some incredible poetry from our feature act Spike Zepheniah Stevenson and host of talented open mic’ers, we concluded that through its social media and regular poetry readings, UEL PEN will be a hub for engaged students to organise, learn, and rejuvenate, providing an online and offline space for blistering poetry, challenging debate, and active organising and campaigning.

In the face of increased pressures on students from our overtly financially driven university, to the genuinely Orwellian on-campus thought-policing and physical policing sanctioned by Conservative governmental policy, UEL PEN aims to battle back against the creeping attacks on fundamental freedoms students are supposed to have at university. We believe that our students should feel free to exercise their freedoms to write and read without university officials looming overhead who will be forced to report students who are “vocally or actively opposing fundamental British values” under the government’s new Prevent programme. Apart from the obvious reasons of being unimplementable, lamentable and widely accepted by education professionals to be a threat to independent thought, Prevent presumes that “British values” are anything but subjective, and formed in the public consciousness, which as any student will tell you, is not one codified viewpoint.    
 
Students should even feel safe in their right to offend with free speech, while wilfully misattributing the well-known aphorism “I disagree with what you say, but I defend to the death your right to say it” to Voltaire, and thus offending humanities lectures the world over. Freedom of speech is not a political or legislative game to be played out by politicians, vice-chancellors and assorted middle-management others, it is the bedrock of a worthwhile education and fulfilling university experience. When the Home Secretary proudly proclaims at a gathering of the party of government, “Students, yes, overstayers, no, and the universities must make this happen”, it implies that these institutions, apparently grounded in the pursuit of knowledge and self-betterment, may be forced to act upon this government’s worst political scapegoating tactics. Apart from being clearly detrimental to students, the xenophobic positions of Tory party policy (in reference to migration and counter-extremism especially) will disproportionately affect international students in a number of ways, and unless Theresa May clarifies the vague wording of her speech, international students (who can be categorised as economic migrants) may face effective deportation at the end of their degrees. UEL PEN will fight for cohesion and community on campus, where a diverse group of students is essential to any real university experience.

Right, now that my anti-governmental rant is out of the way, back to UEL PEN updates! On September 25th we held our first open mic event of the year, “UEL PEN: Set The Tone” at the UELSU, with over 40 dedicated listeners who may or may not have been there primarily for free pizza, but definitely reaped the benefits of experiencing our feature act, poet and illustrator Spike Zepheniah Stevenson who read and sung a selection of poems dealing with everything from our reliance on ever-atomising technology, and the never-ending stream of iPhones (“Technophobe”), to “Drawing A Crowd” where Spike sketched our wonderful audience while introducing himself in flawlessly uptempo rap, with ad-libbed lines for added effect. As always, our open mic'ers surprised, inspired and brought their best. Alongside original pieces, we had a reading of Sarah Kay’s legendary spoken word piece “If I Had A Daughter” that brought some screw-faces and odd noises of approval from the crowd, in between the tears of course. 

Lastly, since this is being posted on Blog Action Day 2015, we’d like to take this opportunity to vocalise our support for Raif Badawi, joint recipient of the PEN Pinter Prize 2015, and imprisoned blogger in Saudi Arabia. First arrested in June 2012, Raif Badawi has been fined £175,000, sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1000 public lashings, for insulting Islam and founding a liberal website, Free Saudi Liberals. He is currently still in prison, his second bout of public flogging has been repeatedly postponed after his health has seriously deteriorated. As part of English PEN, we continue to call for Badawi's sentence of flogging to be overturned immediately, as well as for his conviction to be quashed and for him to be released unconditionally.

Onwards and upwards,
Peace,

UEL PEN

 


  

Atheistic Freedom of Speech in Educational Institutions

Posted: Friday, 11 April 2014 by Unknown in Labels: , , , , , , ,
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­­"We're having a religious related talk, at about 4 pm, do you wanna join?"

We all exchanged looks and shook our heads at the same time. "Sorry mate," one of us said, "we're not religious."

His face dropped for a second, but then his smile was back. "Right, right, sure thing! Sorry for bothering!"
No pushing; no trying to convince us; no telling us we should find God or faith. Respectfully backing down from our group. Key word: respect.

In this world burning with hatred, consumerism, emotional scarring, and unstable powers radiating more than a burnt out supernova, where do you find respect? You don't always find it walking down the street, or with peers. You tend to grasp it and then someone says something about your beliefs, your gender, your sexuality – or lack thereof – and it's gone.

Some time ago, the non-religious students from the London South Bank University’s Atheist Society put up a modified version of Michelangelo’s iconic “Creation of Adam”. The piece featured the Flying Spaghetti Monster, the “deity” of the eponymous Church. According to The Independent, the installation “came about as a humorous response to the teaching of intelligent design in American schools in 2005”. The poster was taken down for being “religiously offensive”.

Freedom of expression, right? Respect for other people’s beliefs, right? Well, no, it seems.
It is absolutely fine, even encouraged, to stick traditionally religious posters up. It’s alright to invite people to talks about religion. It’s alright for people to chastise their peers for engaging in sexual intercourse before marriage, and justify it with “it’s a sin, you will be punished”. It’s alright for people to sneer at a satirical representation of prophets – not even offensive, just a pamphlet of sorts. It’s okay to express yourself however you want.

Except it’s not; not when it is not in line with the standard religious practices. So, someone handing out religious texts and books, even when you explain you don’t want one – is acceptable. Photoshopping a satirical deity on the image of a fresco is condemnable and should be punished.

There is a shameless expression of double standards pummelling people everywhere. In an ever-shifting, adapting, struggling-to-be-kind world, how can we still rely so much on oppression? An allegedly welcoming city such as London should not have these problems.

Ideally, no place in the world should have this problem, but it is beyond unattainable. So, one would argue, let’s start with a smaller, ‘democratic’ part of the world. Let’s teach it, let’s nourish it and most of all, let’s reinforce it time and again. In theory, anyway. In practice, things are different. In practice, I would be sneered at for my lack of belief. I would be asked to bring forward tangible paperwork to prove evolution (I have been asked that before and laughed endlessly.)

If universities can’t provide a safe environment for their students to express beliefs, as well as themselves, what else have we got? Usually, a little after essential formative years, yet not fully moulded adults, this is a time to allow ourselves to shape our identities further. Oppressing us will do nothing else than function as a prime example of reverse psychology. Foucault phrases it as such: "Where there is power, there is resistance [...]”

Universities: allow your students to think and choose for themselves. Allow them to put the Flying Spaghetti Monster up. You allow them to put Jesus up. It’s a belief. It’s a conviction, and it’s a choice.

There has been great progress in allowing people to declare and stand by their gender, their sexuality, etc. Yes, religious issues go back in time. Yes, it is difficult to make a point in a country that is still ambiguous about its secularity. But we need to try.

Don’t call people out because they don’t believe in what you do. Equally, don’t pick people up on their beliefs. Stay out of it. In time, people will learn to stay out of your business as well.


Be fair. Weigh your choices, and in case of indecision, keep weighing. Both as a person and as an institution ran by people.

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By contributing writer, Jo Lazar, as part of our Year 2 Creative & Professional Writing degree Work Experience module.

Journalistic integrity: a thing of the past?

Posted: Thursday, 20 March 2014 by Unknown in Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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In a society where journalists and their sources are scrutinized for going against the current of propaganda and government control, how can we know there will be any truth left for us down the road? Free speech and freedom of the press. These are two things that may very well be fictional in the future. With the influential and life changing actions of Edward Snowden, Britain and the U.S have banded together to make the line between “terrorism” and “journalism” almost indistinguishable. The UK Terrorism Act of 2000, originally implemented to protect our country from radicals has now got the public and it’s governments guessing between journalists and terrorists. This act defines terrorism as an act or threat “designed to influence the government”, that “is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause” and "that would pose a “serious risk” to the health or safety of a section of the public." The UK government have persisted with the line that this risk is present with the disclosure of any “classified” documents. The act also states “the government” can mean a government of any country; in this incidence, namely the US. Subsequently, the British government has opened investigations into anyone who previously worked with Snowden, and used this as a pretext to enter the Guardian’s offices and demand the destruction of their Snowden-related hard drives. David Miranda, assisting journalist Glenn Greenwald (former Guardian worker), was travelling through Heathrow airport, and detained for nine hours under the Terrorism Act under schedule 7, back in August 2013. This compels all those who fall under it to tell all information they know and to pass on any documents they possess. Snowden passed on “thousands of files” to Miranda v(who since wrote many stories concerning the UK and US authorities and their surveillance systems.) These were systems that gave the UK and US full monitoring of it’s citizens through the company GCHQ), and he has since attempted to speak out against this gross misconduct through the UK legal system. However, he was rewarded with a blatant ignorance to any freedom of expression in the European convention on human rights. What does this mean for us?
If the UK legal system is now flexing it’s muscles to take away our information, force us to give up passwords, and destroy our documents, what does this mean for our sources? What does this mean for our “permitted” content? If those with truthful information are being stopped at our front door and 'frisked,' how do we know any information we do manage to receive hasn't already been tainted in order to protect the government’s view of “truth”? Many associates of Edward Snowden have been advised by their legal aids not to return to the United Kingdom, for fear of being stripped of all viable sources in a similar manner to David Miranda. Several of these people work for The Guardian. Even Jesselyn Radack, Snowden’s US legal advisor, was recently detained concerning Snowden and Julian Assange (another famed “whistle blower”). These detainments under schedule 7 are risking the people, their sources and their integrity. “Terrorism” is the conviction these truth-seekers must live with, now restricting their free movement across international borders. Guardian reporter Sarah Harrison lives in fear of this particular schedule, as it constricts her movements, her voice, and her ability to travel home. She states: “Schedule 7 is not really about catching terrorists, even in its own terms. The Miranda judgment states that it has, in this case, “constituted an indirect interference with press freedom” and is admittedly “capable, depending on the facts, of being deployed so as to interfere with journalistic freedom.” Officers can detain someone not because they suspect them of being involved in terrorist activities, but to see “if someone appears” to – even indirectly – be facilitating the bizarre definition of terrorism used in the act.” No longer are we protected, no longer do we receive these acts such as the Terrorism Act of 2000 for “national security”, no longer are the people the priority. These acts are being created and even twisted, among legal officials, to protect the government and their preaching laced with hypocrisy. Illegal activity is OK, as long as you’re a government with enough manpower to dehumanize those who will speak against you. We expect our governments to work for the best interest of their countries, but what country puts the distribution of the truth and hard facts into the same definitions that they consider to be “terrorist activity”? The most harm caused in connection to both Snowden and Assange has been caused by the UK and US governments trying to cover up the blatant violations of human rights they have been so easily committing. In a day and age that we believe freedom of speech and information to be at it’s best, we live shrouded in falsified fear of those who actually uphold their integrity as journalists, rather than their devotion to a botched system.

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 By Catherine Watson, contributing writer, as part of our Year 2 Creative & Professional Writing degree Work Experience module.

Where We Are Now... come on a journey with UEL PEN...

Posted: Wednesday, 29 January 2014 by Unknown in Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,
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So, at the request of our fellow Student PEN Centres & English PEN, and out of a need to document the fast trajectory we’ve all been on as a newly-formed student-led subgroup of English PEN, we at UEL PEN thought we’d take you all on a journey – one of inception till present day. Enjoy the ride…

Inception & Creation:

Created in May 2013 and launched in September, the University of East London English PEN Society has already proven to be full of promising social events. It was created by those of us on the Creative & Professional Writing (BA) Hons degree course who wished to inform students and tutors alike of the issues regarding freedom of speech and freedom to write worldwide. Because of our chosen field of study, the freedom to write and being able to express ourselves is a topic that is very important to us.

We started the society by running a fundraiser on Crowdfunder from June till August 2013, where we read 60 books between four of us in just 8 weeks - helped out by honorary member, Rachael Spencer from our course. We created a separate blog specifically to log the reviews we wrote in order to prove we’d read the listed books, and we successfully managed to raise our set target of £250. We also held a stall at our Fresher’s Fair in September, offering all sorts of different interactive activities; students could share their opinions on what “Freedom of Speech” meant to them, on cut-out speech bubbles (the idea for which we totally borrowed from Surrey PEN – thanks guys!) which we then took photos of and shared/tweeted. Students were also able to give a suggested donation of £2 and choose among our ‘lucky dip’ books, where we’d wrapped up the books and written a small summary on the wrapping – this was in order to redirect the focus to the stories instead of the authors ‘name,’ as well as offering an element of surprise and mystery to their purchase and support.



Emerald at our Fresher’s Week stall.


Events:

The money we raised from our fundraiser was used in part for our first event; our Launch Party in October. The remainder of the money, plus all profits earned that evening and for all events we have held and will hold thereafter, go directly to English PEN at the end of the academic year. We welcomed guest speaker Julia Ziemer from English PEN, who shared more information about what PEN do and how to get involved, and our feature act was Tim Atkins, our course tutor and accomplished poet, who performed a piece he’d written and had published in the English PEN anthology Catechism: Poems for Pussy Riot. We also showed short films on the subject of free speech, supplied refreshments and snacks, and held a raffle at the end of the evening. We were supported by English PEN, UEL’s Vice-Chancellor John Joughin, University of East London’s Student Union, and Pete Ayrton of Serpent’s Tail, who very generously donated a huge pile of books for our book raffle. UEL students were invited to read out their pieces on the subject of freedom of speech in our open mic section, and Mel Dok’s story on the riots in Turkey made such an impact on English PEN that they featured it on their website. At this event, largely due to the amazing marketing skills of Freyja, an honorary member who we said goodbye to at the end of last year when she moved to San Francisco, we welcomed almost 40 people.



Tim Atkins reading out his Pussy Riot piece at our launch event.

In November we held an awareness raising event for Pussy Riot, in light of the imprisonment of two of their main members, their appalling treatment in prison, and Nadia Tolokonnikova’s subsequent disappearance whilst in transit to a Siberian prison colony. We also welcomed new member into the fold; open mic organiser and events whizz Jack Pascoe. In this, we had another open mic section, and held a candlelit Empty Chair section where we read out some of Maria Alyokhina’s work (the other incarcerated member), in order to release her words into the world in her absence and in defiance of the censorship imposed on her. We also welcomed Grace Hetherington of English PEN, and we had approximately 20 attendees. We preceded the evening with a Letter Writing afternoon in which we invited students to come and write letters to the imprisoned band members, expressing their support for them.



Sam reading out Maria Alyokhina's work in the Empty Chair section at our November event.

After a restful and mince-pie filled Christmas break, the UEL English PEN Society has another event in the pipeline for February 20th, 2014 – an open mic and poetry performance evening in recognition of LGBT History Month, and in collaboration with the UEL LGBT Society. We’ll be raising awareness of the current situation in Russia, as well as people throughout history who have been imprisoned or murdered as a result of their pro-gay activism or writing. We're also very excited to be welcoming Feature Act Michelle Madsen, founder of the London branch of Hammer and Tongue, the UK's largest slam poetry network; and Guest Speaker Russell Sax, who is a current student on our writing MA: Imaginative Practice, reading pieces from his newly released book A Gay Man Walks Through Soho.

In March, we’ll be focusing on land rights for indigenous people and translation work – event page coming soon – please ‘like’ our Facebook page for invites and updates on this.



A Russian gay rights activist at a protest rally, in a police van. Sign says: “Love Beats Homophobia”


Other Developments:

We are very lucky to have been offered the chance to field out several volunteer roles within our society as one of the projects offered on our Level 2 work experience module. Helena Blakemore, course leader for the Creative & Professional Writing degree, has always been hugely supportive of what we do at UEL PEN, and we’re very thankful for this very exciting opportunity. We will be offering roles such as graphic design, marketing, events organisation and admin, on an academically marked module; hopefully helping to create work experience for University of East London students within our society and degree course. This is also fantastic chance to find and/or choose suitable candidates to hand the society over to in May, when Sam (President) and Mandy (Social Networking Queen), will both be graduating. We will miss the society very much!

We’re also attending several external workshops and events as a society that are relevant to human rights and freedom of expression; not just to meet and talk to new people, but being writers, to increase our own personal skills in writing for freedom. The last one we went to was run at IdeasTap HQ in Borough on Thursday 23rd January and attended by Sam and Emerald; the Keats House Blackout Poetry workshop, taught by Laila Sumpton and Stephanie Turner. It was fascinating to use a new form of poetry writing technique that we hadn’t attempted before, and we were asked to respond to artworks created for the organisation on a separate IdeasTap brief, based on the theme of freedom of speech. The work produced by everyone in this workshop was stunning, and we were very pleased we’d had the opportunity to attend.

On February 17th, we are attending She Grrrowls once more; this time to read out some of our own work on the theme of women’s rights and Anti-Valentines. Watch this space for updates, and catch the UEL PEN Twitter for random musings on just about everything free-speech related.

In the meantime, we are currently up to a staggering 70 members and supporters, but are always looking for more. If you’d like to get involved, and/or think you can help with any of the above-mentioned roles, please get in touch with a little bit about yourself; where your passions lie, what you think you’d like to do for us, or even just to say hello, on: uelenglishpen@gmail.com – we look forward to hearing from you.

Hope to see you at our next event! Till then, with love and hope.

UEL English PEN Society

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Co-authored by Sam Dodd & Mandy Lutman.

New event coming up!

Posted: Thursday, 23 January 2014 by Mandy in Labels: , , , , , ,
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20th February 2014
5pm-7pm
Student Union Lounge, Docklands Campus

A Open Mic and Performance Poetry night to raise awareness of imprisoned and executed gay rights activists, bloggers, journalists and writers.

Theme: LGBTI (but in the interests of freedom of speech and inclusion, other themes are welcome too!)

We'll have a very exciting Feature Act for you: Michelle Madsen, founder and host of Hammer and Tongue London, part of the UK’s largest slam poetry network!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJwqERcUWOQ

OPEN MIC SLOTS: to book yours in advance, please email Jack on u0710321@uel.ac.uk - there are limited free-for-all spaces available, so do ensure you book in advance! And do tell us your act- whether it's poetry, prose extract, non-fiction, comedy or music - the more diverse the better, and all are welcome
Your piece must be no more than 2-5 minutes in length.

We'll also be screening a moving short film about an African LGBTI activist, and holding an Empty Chair section too, where we'll read out some pieces by imprisoned or executed activists and writers, in order to release their work into the world. Get ready to punch the air with passion at their beautiful words.

£2 entry fee: In return for this, you will receive a raffle ticket for our book raffle at the end of the evening. Prizes guaranteed.

This event comes only a few days before the Sochi Olympic Games closing ceremony in Russia. Since May 2012, when President Putin returned to office, he has introduced a series of new gagging laws that seriously threaten freedom of speech and LGBTI rights within Russia, and that have already led to many, many hate crimes, censorship and murders. In advance of our event, here is one of the small ways you can help: click on this link and sign up to PEN International's Thunderclap initiative to create a Twitter storm around Putin's account during the opening ceremony - they do all the hard work on your behalf: https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/8086-pen-sochi-olympics-campaign

Be sure to 'follow' @uelPEN and @LGBT_UEL for updates on Twitter, and have a ponder at UEL PEN's blog: http://uelenglishpen.blogspot.co.uk/

A UEL English PEN Society event, in collaboration with UEL LGBT Society.

 Check out our event on Facebook! See you there!

Open Mic Night and Letter Writing Day - Tuesday, 19th November 2013

Posted: Wednesday, 13 November 2013 by Unknown in Labels: , , , ,
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A Open Mic night to raise funds for, and awareness of, Pussy Riot.

General encouraged theme of freedom of speech, but in the interests of freedom of speech - you can perform anything you wish! We'll also be holding an Empty Chair section where we'll read out some of Pussy Riot's work, to release their words into the world.

Anyone who writes specifically themed Pussy Riot themed pieces, in support of them, will receive a FREE BOOK.

To book your slot, please email Jack on u0710321@uel.ac.uk - there are limited free-for-all spaces available, so do ensure you book in advance! Please make sure you tell us your act- whether it's poetry, a prose extract, non-fiction, comedy, music or playscripts - the more diverse the better, and all are welcome. It must be no more than 2-5 minutes in length.

Preceded by an afternoon filled with tea, coffee, biscuits and writing of letters of support to Pussy Riot and their families.

Letter Writing drop-in session: 2pm-4pm, Student Union Lounge
Open Mic: 5pm-7pm, Student Union Lounge
(The SU lounge is next to the cashpoints in North Building, Docklands Campus)

Intro to the case: Pussy Riot's Nadezhda Tolokonnikova went missing whilst under the guard of Russian officials during her transfer to a Siberian prison on the 21st October. She and another member of Pussy Riot, Maria Alyokhina, are serving two-year sentences for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, for their impromptu anti-Putin punk performance in Moscow's main cathedral in February 2012.

Here is a link to a video article regarding the disappearance: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/13/opinion/ghitis-nadya-pussy-riot-missing/

...this is the petition calling for the disclosure of her whereabouts, her release as a prisoner of conscience, and for contact to be reinstated between her and lawyers/family: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/pussy-riot-where-nadya

...and here is a documentary about the punk collective: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01hs5t8/Storyville_20132014_Pussy_Riot_A_Punk_Prayer/

Be sure to 'follow' us on Twitter for updates on Pussy Riot and Tolokonnikova. @uelPEN

UEL English PEN Launch Party

Posted: Sunday, 13 October 2013 by Mandy in Labels: , , , , , ,
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On Tuesday, the 8th of October, UEL English PEN hosted our official launch party at the Student Union lounge located on Docklands campus. After hours of food shopping, organizing the lounge and trying to make our projector work, we were ready to open the doors to the public at our scheduled 5pm time.

We were amazed at the amount of people who turned up, just as much as they were amazed at the amounts food and drinks we provided. We wanted to make everyone feel comfortable and it worked. We equipped the lounge with English PEN flyers, our ‘lucky book dip’ and we were also holding a raffle where winners received one of the amazing books we had on the display.

After a short introduction we invited Julia Zimmer, PEN’s events and development officer, who explained what English PEN does internationally, how big the organisation is and what we can do to help.
This followed by a short movie about what freedom of speech actually is and then continued with Tim Atkins, reading a powerful piece by a member of Pussy Riot.

After a short break, it was time for an open mic night! We encouraged students to come and read their work and were surprised at the amounts of people that shared their amazing writing. Among the pieces, we also had a privilege to hear a piece written by one of our classmates, who visited Turkey over the summer and shared the horror stories of the riots – her story is so moving English PEN asked to publish it on their website! You can read the piece here if you haven’t already.

We were also proud of everyone else who read their brilliant work which varied from political to comical. We’d like to thank every single one of them – you made us laugh, think and be creative!
The night finished with an announcement of the winners of our book raffle, which made everyone walk out happy and excited.

Again, we’d like to thank everyone who participated in any way in our launch – we never expected that amount of people and we were really humbled by your positive feedback. We promise to hold these nights more often as they bring us and our ideas closer together. Check out the pictures from the launch on our Facebook page!

Hope you are all having an amazing weekend,
UEL English PEN Society.

Istanbul, Turkey, May 2013. Mel's Story.

Posted: Saturday, 12 October 2013 by Unknown in Labels: , , ,
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Note from UEL English PEN:


This summer, one of our classmates went to Turkey, her home country. She was caught in the middle of the riots, and had some very distressing experiences. We asked her to write about it for our blog, and we also read it out on her behalf at our Summer Launch Party open mic session, on Tuesday 8th October 2013. The response was phenomenal, and English PEN, who were present that evening, have since requested to publish it on their website. Fantastic news!

This is her account of events that day. Thank you for writing for us, Mel.

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Sleeping was impossible. Eating wasn’t a necessity anymore. All we could do was sit in front of the TV, watching the one channel that was brave enough to report the truth. In a nationwide media blackout the public turned to social media. Who can know the number of lives saved with simple retweets? Names and locations of lost children. Tear gas coming your way.  Blood needed. Doctors needed. Lawyers needed. Shelter needed. Twitter was there to help.

The streets were pandemonium. What was one minute a peaceful protest march suddenly turned into war. From water cannons blasting people off their feet and running them over, to pepper spray and tear gas fired directly at the crowd. An army dressed from head to toe in black, complete with black gas masks, like soldiers of hell descending on the people. They have a name. They call themselves ‘Police’. They attack, provoke, kick, punch, slap, drag… And we are called the terrorists? Who do you turn to? Who is your saviour? You are. You as a whole. There is no self. You look out for all.

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That morning, my sister and I packed our bags for Taksim Square. We’d heard of the effects the gas had on eyes, several contact lens wearers had been blinded. Lemons were said to lessen the effects. My sister and I both wear lenses, so decided to pack our yellow swimming goggles, partly in jest, but partly because we wanted to be prepared for everything.

Getting to Taksim was difficult. We live on the Asian side of Istanbul, and Taksim is on the European side. Reaching it meant first catching a ferry from Kadikoy across the Bosphorus to Besiktas, then walking. Making our way to the dock in Kadikoy was difficult – the march had already begun. We grabbed a couple of Turkish flags and joined it.

It was the first time I felt a part of something so intensely significant. The trickle of a few hundred people grew by the minute, until thousands of us walked towards the docks. Animated voices, people jumping in joy, skipping, even. Coming together to become something bigger. Surrounded by a wall of people, up was the only direction I could look. The sun shone down on us, and I smiled. Even the heavens are on our side, I thought. So, arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder, we stood. And we sang our national anthem, we sang our hearts out. What can I even say about the voice of thousands of people, as they chant in unison?  So loud you can barely hear the words yourself… but you feel them instead. Feel them vibrating through the air, seeping through your skin, pumping through your veins. The heat builds, your heart is beating hard against your chest, the salty humid sea air is making it hard to breathe.  The scarlet flags rise against the blue of the sky, and suddenly the moon and stars join the sun.

The ferries had been put on hold, the Captains banned from carrying any passengers. Even though they risked losing their jobs, they made the journeys anyway. Thousands of people were transported across the Bosphorus, free of charge.

I felt a surge of dizziness just as I reached the two foot gap between the dock and the ferry. Without a word, several hands reached for me and pulled me safely onto the boat. We kept singing, and I leaned over the edge of the ferry to take in the view. The gentle breeze carried our voice through the Bosphorus. Passing boats applauded and cheered us on. The smell of tea and simit, a Turkish bread, the view of The Maiden Tower, the Bosphorus bridge… So much beauty and so much history. A city well worth fighting for.

As soon as we docked, we were met by a group of young men with huge sacks of lemons. They passed the lemons out to anyone who would take them, in anticipation of tear gas.

The crowd that greeted us was phenomenal, and I had thought our group at the docks was impressive. There were hundreds of thousands of people, as far as the eye could see and further. Everyone waved a flag, and we became an extension of the flag, an embodiment of what our flag stood for. We marched on, singing our anthem. One body, one voice, one purpose. We walked for freedom, we chanted for our rights. Istanbul groaned with the voice of the people.  Slogans rang out, ‘Government resign!’, ‘Tayyip resign!’, ‘Standing side by side in the face of fascism!’, and ‘We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal!’

Then, I witnessed the first shocking act of violence I had seen all day. A police van driving at great speed, then reversing into people on the road. The van burst forward again straight into a car, in which a family with small children cowered. This happened less than three feet away from me.

I was rooted to the spot and silently watched as six or seven men ran to the van and surrounded it. And then all hell broke loose. Rocks and shards of glass rained out of the sky, there was screaming, running, my heart was in my mouth. I lost my sister in the crowd, was searching through the arms and legs… And then something amazing happened. It started as a whisper among the roar, then the whisper grew louder and stronger. ‘Don’t’ they cried. The power of the word is lost in translation. The hidden message of stop, don’t harm anyone, calm down… all in one word. The rain of rock and glass stopped. I found my sister. And police who had so unashamedly provoked and hurt the people, were saved by them.

---

My sister and I finally managed to reach Gezi Park. Tents; people camping, lying on the grass, playing guitars, singing, laughing. A million miles away from what we’d just seen. White banners tied up on brilliantly green trees; the smell of cooking meat wafting through the air; people handing out pamphlets with legal advice, names and numbers of doctors... Makeshift first aid tents, veterinary tents, canteens, a library made from industrial bricks, memorials for those who had perished in protests… It was all so... human.

It made me so proud. Proud to see that community still existed, that we could depend on each other. It made everything worth fighting for.

It was getting late, and my sister and I decided to return – but when we reached the ferries we discovered that the police, wielding tear gas and pepper spray, had barricaded the docks with water cannons. They were already blasting. People milled around, uncertain. Unprovoked, the police suddenly charged at us, firing their sprays and gas. Everybody ran.

In shock I grabbed the goggles and tried to pull them over my eyes, but they wouldn’t stay. A few seconds later an enormous orange cloud erupted around us. The acrid smell of stale burnt plastic filled my lungs. My sister grabbed my hand and we ran from the police who were charging us. A jungle of feet, orange smoke, panicked screams… The smoke was fire in my throat and made me heave. In my shock I stopped breathing. Suddenly, a door was flung open to my left, and along with at least 20 others, we threw ourselves through the opening. ‘Upstairs!’ a voice cried, ‘go upstairs!’

I’ll never forget that voice.

We ran up the spiral staircase, as far as we could go, before entering a spacious, brightly lit room. I fell to the floor, and lay on my back. All I could hear was the coughing and spluttering of people in the room, over the muffled bedlam outside. The woman that had opened the doors reached for me, and I was taken to the next room to sit on an armchair surrounded by wedding dresses. I looked around and realised I was in one of the most prestigious designer wedding gown boutiques in Istanbul. I stared at the dresses, so pure and white, unblemished… then at the window next to the display, which kept out the horror of the world outside. Well this is fucking ironic, I thought to myself.

When we eventually left the bridal store, the burning smoke was still in the air, and with hands covering our mouths, we ran into the maze of side streets.

The taxi journey home was a quiet one. We sat slumped against the back seat. How can I possibly describe how I felt in that moment? Relief that I was alive? Fear that I was still so far from home? How about anger at the injustice of it all? Grief for those lost? Shock? Hate? Love?

Have you ever felt an emotion so strong, it’s almost tangible? Could you multiply that emotion tenfold – more? Imagine that kaleidoscope of feelings consuming your entire being.

Imagine what all that does to a person.

---

HOW YOU CAN HELP...
PEN's Turkey Focus 2013 campaign (taken from the English PEN website):

English PEN joins PEN International in welcoming the release pending trial of Dicle News Agency editor Fatma Koçak. However, we remain concerned by the continuing detention of 22 journalists being tried as part of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) ‘Press Wing’. The trial, which implicates 46 journalists in total (24 of whom have been released pending trial) as belonging to the urban limb of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has been widely described by observers as a crackdown on the Kurdish and pro-Kurdish press in Turkey. PEN calls for the immediate release of all 22 detained journalists pending completion of their trial, and the dropping of all charges against anyone accused of involvement in the KCK ‘Press Wing’ which relate solely to their peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression and association.

 To take action and send a letter of appeal, please click here to be taken to PEN's website, where you will find a template already set up for you. All you have to do is fill in your name, email address and postcode. Couldn't be simpler. Help PEN campaign for writers rights in Turkey.

Fresher's Fair Recap

Posted: Friday, 20 September 2013 by Mandy in Labels: , ,
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As Fresher's Fair comes to an end I'd just like to recap the last few days. It has been absolutely amazing to see that many societies together at University of East London and this was the first year when I can honestly say UEL's improving.

We'd like to thank to everyone who joined the UEL English PEN Society and to everyone who stopped by our stall on any day we were there - we all hope you learned new things and we'll hopefully see you really soon.

We are still looking for new recruits so please don't be scared to get in touch with us on uelenglishpen@gmail.com if you're interested in holding more responsibility, but also having more fun!

We captured many moments during Fresher's Fair, which can be found on our Facebook page!

To all the freshers: we hope you had a fantastic week and have learned a lot, not only about English PEN but also about University of East London. Good luck with your future studies and we hope to catch you in one of our meetings!
(Here's a sneek peek of our stall with Sam and Mandy!)



What To Expect From Our Events...

Posted: by Mandy in Labels: , ,
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Throughout the year, we’ll be holding these kinds of events and activities, plus more:
  • Empty Chair Evenings and Open Mic Nights Someone sits in a chair and reads out the banned work of a foreign writer, in order to release their words into the world.  We’ll also hold nights where students and staff are welcome to read out their work as part of our Open Mic nights.
  • Letter Writing Workshops and Meet-Ups We all write to writers who have been incarcerated, imprisoned, or put under house arrest for their work, expressing our support for them and appreciation of their work, in order to boost morale.
  • Petitioning Parliament for changes to laws in the UK and abroad with regards to free speech, libel laws and human rights.
  • Work alongside the UK’s other student PEN groups, to increase exposure of issues and the work we’re doing, as well as creating a UK-wide support network for our societies.
  • Book sales and raffles in which we raise money for PEN using books that have been donated to us (so far, we have around 300!)
  • Championing the work that English PEN does with prisoners and refugees, and within their translation programme, which enables obscure works from all over the world to become available to as wide a platform of readers and thinkers as possible.
Are you excited? Because we definitely are!!

8.10.2013 - UEL English PEN Society Launch Party

Posted: Thursday, 12 September 2013 by Mandy in Labels: , ,
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We're proud to present a UEL English PEN Society launch party, which will occur on 8.10.2013 at 5pm in UEL SU Lounge on Docklands campus (nearest DLR station is Cyprus). We'll be featuring some guest speakers who will explain more what English PEN is all about and we'll soon inform you about other surprises that we have in store for that day!

Stay tuned!

16.9.2013 - 20.9.2013 UEL Freshers Fair

Posted: Friday, 6 September 2013 by Unknown in Labels: , ,
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Come check us out at Freshes Fair! We will be attending the UEL Freshers Fair at Docklands campus, where we will have a stall filled with various information about our society. We'll also be having a variety of fun activities so make sure you stop by and say hello!
More information coming shortly!

Beginnings

Posted: Tuesday, 27 August 2013 by Unknown in
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The University of East London’s English PEN Group, is a student-led subgroup of English PEN. Founded in 1921, and now one of the oldest human rights groups still in existence, English PEN has attracted some of the greatest writers across the 20th and 21st centuries in their campaign for free expression.

English PEN is the founding centre of the worldwide writers’ association PEN International with 145 centres in more than 100 countries, campaigning to defend writers and readers in the UK and around the world whose human right to freedom of expression is at risk. It campaigns for prisoners of conscience around the world who have been imprisoned for exercising these freedoms. PEN works to remove inequalities, where they exist, which prevent people’s enjoyment and learning from literature; and match writers with marginalized groups such as people in prisons in the UK, in refugee or detention centres and young people in disadvantaged areas, opening minds to reading and creative writing.

Founded in May 2013 by four Creative & Professional Writing students, the UEL PEN subgroup are looking for committee members from all academic backgrounds and years to join us - all you need to have is an interest in freedom of expression and human rights, a willingness to get involved and be passionate, and a savvy head on your shoulders. Our events will include open mic nights, writing campaigns, speaker events and other social meetings.
Please email us if you're interested on uelenglishpen@gmail.com