Annual Report 2011-12

Annual Report April 2011 – 31 March 2012

English PEN promotes the freedom to write and the freedom to read

We believe that everyone in the world should be free and able to share information and ideas through writing. Freedom of expression is a universal right. It allows us to hold the powerful to account, to develop new ideas and understanding and to express ourselves creatively. Around the world, writers are persecuted and imprisoned simply because they have used words to share information or ideas. We support such writers through our Writers at Risk programme.

As well as the wonderful benefits that words bring, people can also use them to cause harm. So we support some legal restraints on free expression. We are committed to evidence-based policy in this area and we oppose unnecessary and disproportionate restraints on free expression through our UK free speech campaigns.

We believe that words are usually best answered with more words. That is why we seek not only to campaign against censorship, but also to equip people with the means to enjoy the freedom to write. We support people who are excluded from mainstream society – and whose voices might not otherwise be heard – through our Readers & Writers programme.

And we seek to bring as much of the world’s writing to as many readers as possible in our own country so that we can all join in the global exchange of information and ideas. We support publishers and translators of international literature – and their growing readership – through our Writers in Translation programme.

English PEN consists of an active community of writers and readers who join us as members and friends. Since 1921, we have been at the heart of the worldwide writers’ association, PEN International. In England, we bring our members and other supporters together through a wide programme of Events and Prizes, both in London and around the country.

About English PEN

English PEN Annual Report April 2011 – 31 March 2012

Cover image: Fifty Fatullayevs: English PEN protests with other human rights organisations for the release of Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla Fatullayev outside Azerbaijani Embassy, May 2011 © English PEN

President’s Statement

Introduction to English PEN’s main achievements this year

Campaigning for Writers at Risk around the world

Campaigning in the UK

Lifting barriers to reading and writing

Raising the language barrier through Writers in Translation

Celebrating writers of outstanding merit and courage

Fundraising activities

Future developments

Grants and donations

Annual Accounts 2011/12

Annual Report April 2011 – 31 March 2012 English PEN

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Welcome from Gillian Slovo, President


The second year of my presidency of English PEN coincided with a major anniversary: PEN celebrated 90 years of defending the freedom to write and the freedom to read. Now the founding centre of a worldwide organisation of writers and readers with 145 centres in more than 100 countries, English PEN is still young, outward-looking and growing in our ambition to effect change where such freedoms are at risk. We marked the anniversary with the unveiling at the British Library of a sculpture by the artist Antony Gormley, an empty chair, cast in iron, a powerful lasting symbol of writers around the world excluded – as it were – from the table, under threat or imprisoned for what they write.

When it comes to free expression, we cannot hope to effect change overseas if we are not successful in campaigning for the robust protection of this human right at home. The Libel Reform Campaign, run in coalition with Index on Censorship and Sense About Science, lobbied hard throughout the year and was rewarded in May 2012 with the news that a new Defamation Bill would be debated in Parliament. Whilst this is a major breakthrough for the campaign, at the time of writing we are continuing to lobby parliamentarians to deliver a law with the strongest possible protections for writing in the public interest.

We were delighted to see our work to promote the work of international writers in translation recognised by Arts Council England. In March 2011 PEN was awarded a three-fold increase in funding to develop its support for world writing in translation. We worked hard throughout the year to develop a new programme to support translators as well as publishers to get more outstanding work published in English and available to readers everywhere.

Meanwhile our work with socially disadvantaged groups in this country, encouraging more people to discover themselves through reading and writing, grew by 58 per cent. Such growth is only possible through the generosity of our funders who put their trust in us to make a real difference to the lives of people in prison in the UK, in refugee and detention centres and in schools in disadvantaged areas of England and Wales.

When it comes to free expression, we cannot hope to effect change overseas if we are not successful in campaigning for the robust protection of this human right at home.

At the end of this year we said goodbye to Director Jonathan Heawood who decided to move on from English PEN after serving the organisation so well for the past six years. I should like to take this opportunity to thank him for sterling work during his tenure. Our new Director, Jo Glanville, joined us in September 2012.

Gillian Slovo, President

2

This year we commemorated 90 years of defending and promoting the freedom to write and the freedom to read. Our anniversary celebrations 1921-2011 culminated in the unveiling in December of ‘Witness’, a unique sculpture of an empty chair by the internationally-acclaimed artist Antony Gormley, which was installed on the piazza of the British Library in London as a permanent tribute and reminder of writers at risk throughout the world.

In his speech at the launch of the sculpture, Antony Gormley said ‘It was an honour to be asked to try to make something that upholds what PEN stands for. These values, which we take for granted, are denied in other places on this ever more unified planet. The necessity of the eyewitness, who has reflected on his or her experience and subsequently offered it back to us as a guide to the future, is something that the world needs if we are to have any future at all.’

We celebrated our anniversary by extending English PEN’s reach across this country, and around the world, in partnership with our fellow PEN centres in more than 100 countries. We promoted more books in translation than ever before and we worked with more socially-excluded readers and writers, in more settings across all regions, than ever before. We continued to support writers at risk around the world, and, closer to home, the Visiting Artists Campaign called successfully for improvements to the UK visa system. Our Libel Reform Campaign resulted in a Defamation Bill to protect free speech.

Details of all our activities are included in this report. But it’s not just about the numbers. The quality of our work is higher than ever. With strong leadership from our elected Board, and the professional attitude and dedication of our expanded staff team, supported by large numbers of volunteers and freelance writers, we can show that we have made a positive difference to the lives of our beneficiaries in this country and internationally.

Introduction


Upholding what PEN stands for in our anniversary year

3

Antony Gormley unveils ‘Witness’ at the British Library ©British Library

Fifty years ago PEN first started campaigning for writers unjustly imprisoned overseas by regimes hostile to the freedom to write and the freedom to read. Such longevity and tenacity continues to reap results. This year we were able to celebrate the release of Azerbaijani editor Eynulla Fatullayev in May after nearly four years behind bars on charges of defamation. Our protest ‘Fifty Fatullayevs’ outside the Azerbaijani Embassy in London prior to his release features on our cover. We were also delighted with the release as part of a prisoner amnesty in November of Zarganar, the Burmese poet and comedian who was serving a 35- year prison sentence for his activism.

Whilst the release of Fatullayev and Zarganar cheered our members and friends, we continued to call for members’ support in a series of demonstrations and protests through the year, notably for the ‘Free Belarus’ campaign, and for writers and journalists in Mexico whose lives continue to be threatened for speaking out. English PEN also lobbied hard for the release of imprisoned writers in China through events staged in preparation for the 2012 London Book Fair which took China as its market focus country.

We observed the annual Night of the Imprisoned Writer with a fundraiser for English PEN at The Tabernacle in London. Hosted by Shaun Keaveny, presenter of BBC Radio 6 Music, the night of cutting edge comedy combined with the powerful words of persecuted writers from around the world, raised funds for the Writers at Risk campaign and encouraged messages of support in defence of imprisoned Chinese poet Liu Xiaobo.

‘I was told personally that it was the efforts and pressure from certain distinguished bodies in the UK which made my release possible. One such body is English PEN’

Lastly, in March, we were pleased to welcome Jack Mapanje to the Free Word Centre for the launch of his prison memoir And Crocodiles Are Hungry At Night. English PEN had campaigned earlier for the release of African poet Jack Mapanje who was imprisoned from 1987 to 1991 without trial or charge by the government in Malawi. Now resident in UK, Jack’s moving memoir pays tribute to the efforts of our international campaigning.

‘I was told personally that it was the efforts and pressure from certain distinguished bodies in the UK which made my release possible. One such body is English PEN’.

Campaigning for writers at risk around the world


4

Protest for the release of Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla Fatullayev © English PEN

Credibility abroad begins with a strong and consistent approach in our own back yard. When it comes to free expression, the British government and campaign groups like English PEN cannot expect to provide moral leadership overseas unless we have robust protection for free expression at home. Securing and promoting the freedom to write in the United Kingdom is an essential part of English PEN’s work.

Libel Law ReformThe Libel Law of England and Wales is a source of particular concern. The written word should be the means by which powerful people are held to account, but the current law allows the wealthy to misuse the libel laws to censor legitimate criticism of their actions. Meanwhile, tabloids are able to smear individuals with impunity. English PEN’s Libel Reform Campaign, run in coalition with Index on Censorship and Sense About Science, is now in its third year. During that time we have built public support for change, and produced detailed policy ideas for the Ministry of Justice to consider. Following manifesto commitments and a detailed government consultation, the campaign secured the introduction of a Defamation Bill on 10th May 2012. We are continuing to lobby parliamentarians to deliver a law with the strongest possible protections for opinion and writing in the public interest.

Visa Reform for Visiting ArtistsIn a speech on 2nd February, Immigration Minister Damian Green acknowledged that the refusal of visas to visiting artists had become a ‘sore point’. This was due to the relentless petitioning of English PEN members, who joined with the Manifesto Club and the Visual Arts and Galleries Association to demand an end to discrimination against visiting artists. In response to a campaign that included playwrights, novelists, broadcasters and members of the House of Lords, the UK Border Agency created a new type of visa, ‘Permitted Paid Engagement’, designed specifically for visiting artists. PEN members also successfully lobbied the UKBA on behalf of playwright Lydia Besong, who sought asylum in the UK after fleeting from Cameroon, where she had suffered death threats.

As we celebrate these successes, new challenges emerge. The role that the media plays in our democracy is currently under intense scrutiny, and the evolution of the internet presents new challenges for what can and cannot be said in public. One important consequence of our efforts to reform the law was being called to give evidence as a witness to the Leveson Inquiry in January where English PEN’s then Director, Jonathan Heawood, was able to state our position regarding press regulation.

Campaigning against unjust laws that limit freedom to write and read in UK


5

We are continuing to lobby parliamentarians to deliver a law with the strongest possible protections of opinion, and writing in the public interest

Our ambition is to build, enhance and celebrate the freedom to write and the freedom to read within disadvantaged communities in England and Wales. We determine ‘disadvantaged’ by identifying communities that lack the resources required to develop such capabilities amongst their citizens. Or they might be closed communities where the freedom to write and the freedom to read are affected by prejudice and misperception. We use creative writing – often interwoven with other practices such as translation or storytelling – as a safe space in which people can explore themselves and the world they are in, helping to build bridges within the wider communities through literature and freedom of expression.

This year, as in previous years, we focused on three main groups: young people, refugees and prisoners. Within these groups we worked with people across the life course, from 15-year-old Afghani teenagers through to 75-year-old refugees, from young offenders through to older ‘lifers’ – and we worked across generations as well.

• We created 176 two-hour English PEN workshops in 15 prisons, 12 refugee centres and 5 schools.

• We directly engaged 485 refugees, 620 prisoners and 200 young people; we reached thousands more indirectly through the distribution of our books.

• We worked with 48 professional and published writers, offering professional development and training opportunities as well as employment and mentoring.

• We produced four books of writing by prisoners, adult refugees and young people who had newly arrived in the country.

• 1,500 people downloaded our book of prison writing; an average of 500 people each time downloaded our refugee books.

• We produced four events to celebrate the launch of the books and to open up dialogue around freedom of speech and creativity for prisoners.

• We led English PEN sessions at a new refugee arts conference at London’s Southbank Centre, at a refugee event in Manchester and at a conference for young journalists.

• We extended our New Communities programme to fivesitesoutsideLondon:Manchester,Newcastle,Bristol,LeedsandSheffield.

• For the first time we ran a creative writing competition for prisoners called ‘Writing Freedom’. Judged by novelist Jake Arnott, the competition drew 300 entries from 70 prisons.

• We partnered with Human Rights Watch to produce a creative writing competition for young people in years 10 and 11.

• We hosted an event as part of ‘Young People Seeking Safety Awareness Week’.

• We helped 48 young people achieve a Bronze Arts Award, a nationally recognised qualification – potentially the only qualification these young people will gain whilst they are at school.

• We secured £84,000 funding from grant-giving bodies such as A B Charitable Trust, Scotshill Trust, N Smith Charitable Settlement and Limbourne Trust as well as project funding from bodies such as the European Commission Representation in the UK, Clore Duffield, the Monument Trust and John Lyon’s Charity.

Lifting barriers to reading and writing for disadvantaged groups across the country


6

Young people on our John Lyon’s charity programme © George Torode

English PEN continued to increase audiences for translated literature by supporting the promotion of outstanding titles. We have developed exciting new activities and strategies for promotion within the Readers & Writers Programme, as part of a newly established integrated Programmes Team.

In March 2011, Writers in Translation’s outstanding work and contribution to diversity in the UK literacy scene was recognised by Arts Council England. English PEN was awarded a threefold increase in funding to develop its support for world writing in translation and, as of April 2012, the programme will have a £120,000 ring-fenced grant to fund translation costs directly. This means that Writers in Translation will be playing a key role supporting books in translation much earlier in the publishing process, as well as continuing to support publicity and marketing of translated work through our existing programme.

Following our research, published as part of the Global Translation Initiative ‘Taking Flight’ which we launched in April 2011, we know that it takes a long and fragile supply line to bring a book from an author in one language to readers in another. For this reason, our programme now aims to enhance both the supply and the demand for translated literature through our funding streams and online initiatives.

This year we supported the publication, publicity and promotional costs of ten translated titles.

• AnatomyofaMoment, by Javier Cercas, tr Anne McClean, publ. Bloomsbury

• A Palace in the Old Village, by Tahar Ben Jelloun, tr Linda Coverdale, publ. Arcadia Books

• Beauty and the Inferno, by Roberto Saviano, tr Oonagh Stranksky, publ. MacLehose Press

• In the Sea there are Crocodiles, by Fabio Geda, tr Howard Cutis, publ. Harvill Secker

• The Fat Years, by Chan Koonchung, tr Michael S Duke, publ. Transworld Publishers

• The Colonel, by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, tr.Tom Patterdale, publ. Haus Publishing

• Purgatory, by Tomas Eloy Martinez, tr Frank Wynne, publ. Bloomsbury

• I was Born There, I was Born Here, by Mourid Barghouti, tr.Humphrey Davies, publ. Bloomsbury

• 7 Ways to Kill a Cat, by Matias Nespolo, tr Frank Wynne, publ. Harvill Secker

• The Patagonian Hare, by Claude Lanzmann, tr Frank Wynne, publ. Atlantic Books

We supported books translated fromsixdifferentlanguages into English: Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Farsi, French and Spanish.

• We supported four sample translations and professional reader reports (from the Arabic, Turkish and Uyghur) into English for the attention of UK publishers

• We worked with over 40 artists (authors, translators, interpreters and professional speakers) in over 20 events

• We worked in over 15venuesinLondonandaround the country, including the LRB Bookshop, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Warwick Arts Centre, Bristol Festival of Ideas, the French Institute, Kings Place and the Southbank Centre

• We distributed four supported titles through The Reading Agency’s Reading Groups for Everyone scheme with the result that 870 WiT booksreached85differentreadinggroups throughout the UK

• We planned and coordinated four seminars for theLiteraryTranslationCentre at London Book Fair in April 2011

• Working with several partners, we helped produce another International Translation Day at the Free Word Centre. The Day attracted 100 participants, featured over 20 speakers and delivered six interactive workshop sessions

• We launched and distributed the final Global Translation Initiative Report: Taking Flight at International Translation Day

• We launched the re-modelled PEN Atlas under a new strategy, edited by freelancer Tasja Dokifikis, and published the first two blog pieces in 2011/12 by Gazmend Kallpani and Juan Pablo Villalobos (translated from the Spanish by Rosalind Harvey)

• We worked with over 10 regular partners to programme events, including The British Centre for Literary Translation; Literature Across Frontiers; Wales Literature Exchange and Words Without Borders

Raising the language barrier to a more diverse UK literary scene


7

English PEN’s Writers in Public programme showcases through a series of discussions, debates and performances the best talent amongst our growing membership of writers, journalists, editors, publishers and translators. It includes invitations to international writers, particularly those whom English PEN has supported through its Writers in Prison programme and through joint working with International PEN centres.

The celebration of PEN’s 90th anniversary in 2011 gave added impetus to producing a particularly strong public programme this year.

We produced and toured across the country ‘Writing Freedom: the English PEN Roadshow’. Part of our commemorative year’s events, ‘Writing Freedom’ was a spoken word celebration in which contemporary authors drew on the world of those writers who have led PEN’s fight over the past century, from HG Wells to Monica Ali. Our roadshow presented at literary festivals in Brighton, Ilkley, Guildford, Durham and Manchester.

We introduced a new event series at the Free Word Centre – the English PEN Literary Café. Exclusive to English PEN Members and Friends, these events in 2011/12 included a highly topical debate on Privacy and Free Expression which involved mixing prominent QCs with authors and, in partnership with Words of Colour, a lively discussion on the relative absence of black writers in British publishing.

We launched a six-part introductory course in partnership with the Bishopsgate Institute and Free Word called ‘Free Speech: the Night Class’. Tutored by Mark Vernon, founding member of The School of Life and honorary fellow at Birkbeck College, the course examines acceptable and unacceptable expression. In 2011/12 Vernon’s class investigated topics including blasphemy, offensive language, respect, humour, pornography and the Internet.

Ahead of London Book Fair 2012, which chose China as its market focus, English PEN hosted in March 2011 at the Free Word Centre a full day of debate and open sessions with Chinese writers. ‘China Inside Out’ included writers both from China and those living in exile; among them, Ma Jian, Ou Ning and Diane Wei. Before a packed house of PEN members, academics, publishers and members of the public, writers, translators and commentators investigated what it is like to write in China today.

We continued to award prizes for outstanding contribution to literature including the PEN/Pinter Prize and the Golden PEN Award.

• This year was the third year of the prize set up to commemorate the life of Harold Pinter and his lifelong defence of free speech. The PEN/Pinter Prize 2011 was won by playwright David Hare and shared with Italian author Roberto Saviano, nominated by David Hare as this year’s International Writer of Courage. The Golden PEN 2011, presented for a lifetime’s distinguished service to literature, was awarded to MargaretDrabble.

• The PEN Ackerley Prize for a literary autobiography, traditionally presented at English PEN’s popular Summer Party for members and friends, was awarded this year to MichaelFrayn for MyFather’sFortune.

Celebrating writers of outstanding merit and courage


8

PEN/Pinter Prize 2011 won by David Hare, presented by Antonia Fraser

Since 2009, English PEN has successfully diversified its income streams, reducing our reliance on Arts Council core funding from 14 per cent in 2009-10 to 11 per cent in 2011-12. We have been particularly successful in fundraising from trusts and foundations, whose contributions have increased from £305,374 to £346,804; and in donations (principally through our membership scheme) which have increased from £66,528 to £110,134.

This is the result of a sustained investment of time and resources, leading to strong relationships with a number of donors. These figures show some impressive trends, namely that:

• Income from members and other donations has grown by 66 per cent.

• Income from trusts and foundations has grown by 14 per cent.

• English PEN has grown by a total of 21 per cent.

With total income of £652,584, English PEN once again saw a period of significant growth – 21 per cent versus 23 per cent last year. As ever, this very positive result is thanks to the hard work of a number of people, both inside and outside the office, working closely together.

English PEN’s fundraising continues to rest on the core support of our membership

English PEN’s fundraising continues to rest on the core support of our members. Whilst subscriptions income has grown only slightly this year, we remain optimistic that, with further investment in membership recruitment, we will see a higher rate of growth in future years. We are impressed with the consistent income from our major fundraising event, the Four Colman Getty PEN Quiz, which remains solid in a challenging economic climate for our major supporters in the media industry. Likewise, we are proud that our Silver PEN partners, Faber, HarperCollins, Penguin, Hachette, Random House, Simon and Schuster and London Book Fair, have continued to offer their support. And we enjoy our ongoing relationship with Bloomberg, who have sponsored the Writers in Translation programme since its inception in 2005.

Our income from trusts and foundations has grown steadily. Our largest supporters in this sector were the Open Society Foundation and the Sigrid Rausing Trust, who funded our campaigns, alongside the Nuffield Foundation who awarded us a major grant for the Alternative Libel Project.

Other funders included A B Charitable Trust, Clore Duffield Foundation, European Commission Representation in the UK, John Lyon’s Charity, Limbourne Trust, Monument Trust, Morel Trust, N Smith Charitable Settlement and Scotshill Trust.

We also received support from a number of extremely generous individuals, including Ruth Maxted, Len Blavatnik, Ken and Barbara Follett, Judy Piatkus, Ronald Harwood.

Fundraising activities


9

Future developments


Ouractivitiesin2012/13arebasedonEnglishPEN’sbusinessplan2012-2015

10

English PEN received extremely welcome news of an enhanced grant from Arts Council England (ACE) who announced that our grant will rise to £230,000 in April 2012 – the highest uplift awarded in the literature sector. From the start of the new financial year English PEN will manage a new award in the translation sector, funded by ACE. English PEN will provide grants to translators of works of outstanding literary merit, enabling more international literature to reach English-speaking readers in this country. Additionally English PEN secured a further ACE-funded ‘Catalyst’ grant which is offered on the condition that English PEN develops capacity to drive up its income from memberships and donations and match-funds in part from trusts and foundations. Finally we learnt at the beginning of the new financial year that Bloomberg is generously increasing its funding of our Writers in Translation programme, enabling our promotion work of new translated titles to double in size.

English PEN has restructured its staff organisation to allow for a new position of Deputy Director with the core objective of growing the membership of English PEN and identifying new sources of income. We are aiming to increase membership revenues by 20 per cent year on year for the three year period to 2015.

In addition to our permanent staff, we have created a number of paid internships to address the inequity of routes into the literary profession in today’s challenging economic climate. We already have successfully transferred one paid intern in a permanent post within the new structure at English PEN.

We are building more partnerships with UK universities, helping them establish Student PEN groups to promote the freedom to write and the freedom to read and expand PEN’s foothold across the country. Interest from the higher education sector is high.

We intend to integrate the Readers & Writers programme much more closely with the expanding Writers in Translation initiative, creating greater synergies between the beneficiaries of both programmes; our new staff structure with one Head of Programmes makes this possible.

On behalf of our membership of authors, editors, publishers, we will continue to press for additional reforms not yet contained within the Defamation Bill now before Parliament in partnership with the Libel Reform Campaign, in particular calling for an effective public interest defence.

Future developments


Grants and donations

TheMembersandFriendsofEnglishPEN

English PEN would like to thank all those who have supported us this year:

11

Trusts&Foundations:

AB Charitable Trust

Allan & Nesta Ferguson

Arts Council England

Clore Duffield Foundation

European Commission Representation in the UK

Foundation Open Society Institute

John Lyon’s Charity

The Limbourne Trust

The Monument Trust

The Neil Kreitman Foundation

Nigel May

Nuffield Foundation

Phoenix Charitable Foundation

Scotshill Trust

Sigrid Rausing Trust

The Vodaphone Foundation

SilverPENPartners:

Faber & Faber

Hachette UK

HarperCollins

London Book Fair

Penguin

Random House

Simon & Schuster

CorporateDonors:

Bloomberg LP Four Colman Getty

Benefactors:

Ken and Barbara Follett

Ruth Maxted

Judy Piatkus

Ronald Harwood

12

Annual accounts 2011-2012

13

Structure, governance and management


Governing document

The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006. English Pen was incorporated on 17 March 2006 and registered as a charity on 26 August 2008. The company was established under a Memorandum of Association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its Articles of Association and a deed of trust. The company is one limited by guarantee as defined by the Companies Act 1985, and in the event of the company being wound up members are required to contribute an amount not exceeding £1.

Recruitment and appointment of new trustees

The Articles of Association of English PEN allow for the election of between five and eighteen trustees, to serve up to a maximum of two three-year terms, with an additional three spaces for co-options. Trustees are elected by and from among English PEN’s members at the Annual General Meeting.

Induction and training of new trustees

All new trustees are provided with the Memorandum and Articles of Association of English PEN, and a copy of the Charity Commission’s guidance on the role and responsibilities of trustees. At an annual ‘away day’, all trustees come together to monitor the charity’s progress, to agree future targets for development, and to monitor their own performance as a board.

Organisational structure

Membership of English PEN is open to all including poets, playwrights, essayists, editors, novelists and their translators who share the organisation’s aims of promoting literature and human rights. Members have the right to stand and vote in elections to the Board, ensuring a high standard of internal transparency and accountability. The Board of trustees, chaired by the President, is responsible for the organisation’s good governance, and delegates day-to-day management responsibility to the Director, who oversees the work of staff and volunteers. The Board also delegates specific functions to the Management Committee, the Readers & Writers Committee, the Writers at Risk Committee and the Writers in Translation Committee, each of which has Terms of Reference setting out its purpose, membership and reporting structure.

Related parties

English PEN is the founding centre of PEN International, and has voting rights at the Assembly of Delegates, which constitutes PEN International’s Annual General Meeting. English PEN is also one of eight founding members of the Free Word Centre. Whilst Free Word provides English PEN with a physical home, and the capacity for far closer working relationships with organisations in the literature, literacy and free speech charitable sectors, it has no authority over English PEN’s organisational strategy or internal policies. All founding members have observer status at Free Word Board meetings.

Risk management

The trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error.

Reserves Policy

It is the charity’s policy to hold reserves to cover operating costs for six months. Current reserves are sufficient.

14

English PEN’s registration as a charity on 26th August 2008 marked the Charity Commission’s acceptance of theorganisation’s public benefit, throughout its activities. This decision may be favourable to other charities in the human rights field. The Charity Commission agreed with the trustees that ‘writers, authors, editors, publishers and other persons similarly engaged throughout the world’ constitute a ‘particularly vulnerable’ class of beneficiaries.This ruling will enable English PEN to concentrate its resources most effectively on this beneficiary class, whilst –as the Charity Commission acknowledges – benefiting the public generally.

The Charity Commission’s Board made three noteworthy points in their review of English PEN’s application for charitable status. They ruled that the Commission is entitled to look beyond the expressed objects when considering whether an organisation is charitable; that the Commission is able to consider past activities as ‘informative but not determinative of charitable status’; and that public benefit must be assessed in relation to ‘each individual object in turn’.

This means in practice that the public benefit of English PEN’s work has been exhaustively demonstrated across all of its activities.

The Charity Commission also reaffirmed the guidance in publication RR12, that ‘international advocacy of human rights is a means of promoting human rights as it is understood in charity law and that this includes advocating the adoption of, and compliance with, international and regional codes of human rights.’ Coupled with English PEN’s clear internal procedures for assessing the scale of a human rights threat before engaging in political campaigning,this guidance gives the charity flexibility to allocate its resources to campaigns as and when appropriate in pursuit of its charitable objects.

Statement of trustees’ responsibilitiesThe trustees (who are also the directors of English PEN for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and UnitedKingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP;

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. In so far as the trustees are aware:

• there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditors are unaware; and

• the trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit

• information and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information.

Statement as to disclosure of information to auditorsSo far as the trustees are aware, there is no relevant information (as defined by Section 418 of the Companies Act 2006) of which the charitable company`s auditors are unaware, and each trustee has taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as a trustee in order to make them aware of any audit information and to establish that the charitable company`s auditors are aware of that information.

AuditorsThe auditors, Messrs. Grant Harrod Parkinson LLP, will be proposed for re-appointment at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

Onbehalfoftheboard:

G Slovo – President Date

Public benefit


15



The Trustees, who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report withthe financial statements on the charity for the year ended 31 March 2012. The Trustees have adopted the provisions of theStatement of Recommended Practice (SORP) ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities’ issued in March 2005.

The Board of Trustees

R S Abdulla MBEM AliC V BiglandJ L EvansR GekoskiC L GoodingsD HahnE A HoffmanR HolmesA T HopkinsonD JohnsB P W KernonR N KentC M KingL F M MackieD P MillerH MatarB A QureshiG R RobertsonR SchwartzK N ShamsieF S ShihabG Slovo (Chair)S J Tripathi

Director

Deputy Director

Registered Office

Company Number

Charity Number

Auditors

Bankers

16

Resigned 5 December 2011

Appointed 5 December 2011

Resigned 5 December 2011Resigned 5 December 2011, reappointed 13 February 2012Appointed 5 December 2011

Appointed 5 December 2011Appointed 5 December 2011

Resigned 5 December 2011

Jo Glanville

Heather Norman Söderlind

Free Word Centre60 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3GA

05747142 (England and Wales)

1125610

Grant Harrod Parkinson LLPChartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors49A High StreetRuislip, Middlesex, HA4 7BD

HSBC76-78 Kings RoadLondon SW3 4TZ



Report of the Independent Auditors to the Members of English PEN

17

We have audited the financial statements of English PEN for the year ended 31 March 2012 on pages 18 to 28. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effective April 2008) (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice applicable to Smaller Entities).

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors’ report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and auditorsAs explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view.

Our responsibility is to audit and express an opinion on the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). Those standards require us to comply with the Auditing Practices Board’s Ethical Standards for Auditors, including APB Ethical Standard - Provisions Avalible for Small Entities (Revised), in the circumstances set out in note 14 to the financial statements.

Scope of the audit of the financial statementsAn audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or error. This includes an assessment of: whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the charitable company’s circumstances and have been consistently applied and adequately disclosed; the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by the trustees; and the overall presentation of the financial statements. In addition, we read all the financial and non-financial information in the Report of the Trustees to identify material inconsistencies with the audited financial statements. If we become aware of any apparent material misstatements or inconsistencies we consider the implications for our report.

Opinion on financial statementsIn our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2012 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Opinion on other matter prescribed by the Companies Act 2006In our opinion the information given in the Report of the Trustees for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• adequate accounting records have not been kept or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or

• the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies exemption in preparing the Report of the Trustees.

Jeremy Harrod FCCA (Senior Statutory Auditor)for and on behalf of Grant Harrod Parkinson LLPChartered AccountantsStatutory Auditors49A High StreetRuislipMiddlesexHA4 7BDDate:



18

Income & expenditure

UnrestrictedFunds

£

RestrictedFunds

£

TotalFunds

Year ended2011

£

TotalFunds

Year ended2012

£

Note

The notes on pages 18 to 24 form part of these financial statements. None of the company’s activities were acquired or discontinued during the financial period. The company has no recognised gains or losses other than these dealt with in the above Statement of Financial Activities.

110,134 50,813

9,716 48

118,680 30,739

320,130

30,991

0000

155,973 13,462

0

200,426

119,704

2,825

122,529

139,093

261,622

0

00

332,454 0

332,454

0

74,641 48,530 43,316

146,992 96,643

00

410,122

(77,668)

0

(77,668)

92,238

14,570

66,528 65,428

9,510 0

381,082 15,757

538,305

22,886

65,607 50,820 51,150 96,380

205,154 10,876

527

503,400

34,905

6,371

41,276

190,055

231,331

110,134 50,813

9,716 48

451,134 30,739

652,584

30,991

74,641 48,530 43,316

146,992 252,616

13,462 0

610,548

42,036

2,825

44,861

231,331

276,192

2

3,4

6

Incoming ResourcesIncoming resources from generated Funds Voluntary income Activities for generating funds Income from investments Bank interest receivableIncoming resources from charitable activities Grants receivable Other income

Total incoming resources

Resources ExpendedCost of Generating Funds: Costs of generating voluntary income

Charitable Activities Readers and Writers Writers at Risk Writers in Translation Campaigns Other Charitable expenditureGovernance costsOther resources expended

Total Resources Expended

Net Income/(Outgoing Resources)

Other recognised Gains and losses Gain/(Loss) on revaluation of investments

NetMovementinfundsfortheyear

Funds Brought Forward

Funds Carried Forward




19

Balance sheet

5,948 185,079 191,027

66,664 145,267 211,931

(141,336)

70,595

261,622

Fixed AssetsTangible assetsInvestments

Current AssetsDebtorsCash at bank and in hand

CreditorsAmounts falling due within one year

Net Current Assets

TotalAssetsLessCurrentLiabilities

FundsRestrictedUnrestricted

000

014,570 14,570

0

14,570

14,570

2,027 182,254 184,281

19,894 192,031 211,925

(164,875)

47,050

231,331

139,093 92,238

231,331

5,948 185,079 191,027

66,664 159,837 226,501

(141,336)

85,165

276,192

14,570 261,622

276,192

56

7

8

9

UnrestrictedFunds

£

RestrictedFunds

£

2011 Total funds

£

2012 Total funds

£

Note

The notes on pages 18 to 24 form part of these financial statements These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small charitable companies and with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effective April 2008). The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on xx xxxxxxxx 2012 and were signed on its behalf by:

Gillian Slovo Barry Kernon Chair Treasurer Company Registration Number: 05747142



Accounting policies

Basis of Accounting

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, with the exception of investments which are included at market value, as modified by the revaluation of certain assets and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effective April 2008), the Companies Act 2006 and the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities.

The following principal accounting policies, which are unchanged from the previous year, have been consistently applied in preparing these financial statements.

Incoming Resources

Grants, subscriptions and donations are accounted for on an receipts basis, other income on an accruals basis, except for certain advance payments received at the end of the financial year in respect of activities to take place in the following financial year, which are carried forward in the financial statements as deferred income. Other income is accounted for on an accruals basis.

Resources Expended

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Wherever possible costs are directly attributed to these headings. Costs common to more than one area are apportioned on the basis of staff time.

Governance costs are those incurred in the governance of the charity and are primarily associated with the constitutional and statutory requirements.

Fund Accounting

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by the donor.

Unrestricted funds are funds which are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in futherance of the general objects of the charity.

Designated funds represent amounts set aside by the Trustees from unrestricted income to meet specific purposes.

Tangible Fixed Assets

Items with a value greater than £250 are capitalised. Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Provision is made for depreciation on all tangible assets at rates calculated to write off the cost of each asset over its expected useful life, as follows:

Fixtures, fittings, computers & software - 25% per annum on a reducing balance basis

Investments

Investments are stated at market value as at the balance sheet date. Any gain or loss on revaluation is taken tothe Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.

Pension Costs

Pension contributions payable to employee defined contribution pension schemes are charged to the Statement of Financial Affairs in the period to which they relate.

20




Grants receivable

7,500

9,500

14,407

15,000

16,000

0

4,000

2,500

1,500

15,000

25,000

99,500

73,964

5,000

0

0

288,871

70,130

34,200

10,000

4,350

118,680

407,551

Restricted

AB Charitable Trust


European Commission


The Monument Trust

Allan & Nesta Ferguson

The Limbourne Trust

Scotshill Trust

Nigel May

Bloomberg L.P.

Sigrid Rausing Trust

Nuffield Foundation

Foundation Open Society Institute

Phoenix Charitable Foundation

The Vodafone Foundation

Anonymous re PEN Pinter Prize Fund

Unrestricted

Arts Council of England - Revenue

Arts Council of England - GftA

The Neil Kreitman Foundation

Other grants

Total Grants Receivable

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

25,000

0

0

0

0

20,000

45,000

- 0

- 0

- 0

- 0

- 0

45,000 381,082

7,500

9,500

14,407

15,000

16,000

15,000

4,000

2,500

1,500

15,000

45,833

99,500

73,964

5,000

2,750

5,000

332,454

70,130

34,200

10,000

4,350

118,680

451,134

0

0

0

0

15,000

0

0

0

0

45,833

0

0

0

2,750

25,000

88,583

0

0

0

0

0

88,583

Grants received

£

Deferred income carried

forward£

Total 2011£

Total 2012£

Deferred income

brought forward

£

21

2011



2012Staff are allocated as follows:

Wages and salaries

Social security costs

Pension costs

Readers and Writers staff

Writers at Risk staff

Writers in Translation staff

Campaigns staff

Other charitable activities

Management and Administration

Total

20112012The aggregate payroll costs were

192,679

18,814

2,610

214,103

1.5

1.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

1.0

8.5

261,390

25,676

4,373

291,439

1.5

1.5

2.0

1.0

2.5

2.0

10.5

During the year 4 trustees were reimbursed £841 expenses for travel (2011 : £527 to 1 trustee).

During the year, no trustees received any remuneration (2011 : £nil).

No employee received an annual remuneration in excess of £60,000 (2011: nil).

The total number of employees calculated on a full time equivalent basis during the year was 10.5 (2011 - 8.5).

Staff costs

22

41,440

144

40

0

1,446

0

3,109

500

0

1,826

0

0

0

17

0

8

0

0

48,530

50,820

Staff Costs (note 3)

Temps/recruitment/training

Rent and other office costs

Printing and design

Travel, subsistence and entertaining

Advertising and marketing

Writers’ fees and expenses

Grants to Writers

Campaign costs

Prizes, events/workshops and room hire

Research and Professional Costs

Audit costs

Accountancy costs

Bank charges

Depreciation

Subscriptions, publications and conferences

Bad debt

Miscellaneous expenses

Total Resources Expended and Support Costs

2011

28,613

- 0

15

0

298

0

1,573

12,163

0

102

340

0

0

0

0

0

0

212

43,316

51,150

Total resources expended

120,886

5,910

70,633

13,464

8,895

756

9,622

0

0

28,254

2,160

7,018

632

550

13,181

760

886

283,607

228,567

64,035

112

813

3,087

1,475

0

4,000

0

19,926

4,053

49,837

0

0

34

0

0

0

(380)

146,992

96,380

36,465

680

457

4,470

3,338

125

20,411

0

0

8,311

0

0

0

0

0

384

0

0

74,641

65,607

Writers at Risk

£

Writers in Translation

£

Other Charitable

Expenditure

£

Campaigns

£

Readers & Writers

£

0

0

1,178

3,321

726

0

0

0

0

930

0

5,650

0

40

0

888

0

729

13,462

10,876

291,439

6,846

73,136

24,342

16,178

881

38,715

12,663

19,926

43,476

52,337

5,650

7,018

723

550

14,461

760

1,447

610,548

503,400

214,103

2,665

46,205

15,949

11,433

0

12,643

16,181

71,971

82,685

0

4,200

10,283

1,172

720

11,468

0

1,722

503,400

2012

£

2011

£

Governance

£




23



CostAt 1 April 2011AdditionsDisposals

At 31 March 2012

DepreciationAt 1 April 2011Charge for the year

At 31 March 2012

Net Book ValueAt 31 March 2012

At 31 March 2011

Fittings, Computers and Software

5,453 4,471

0

9,924

3,426 550

03,976

5,948

2,027

Market value as at 1 April

Unrealised gain on investment

MarketValueasat31March

Historical Cost

2011£

2012£

175,883

6,371

182,254

158,548

182,254

2,825

185,079

158,548

Tangible fixed assets

City of London Inv Trust

M&G Investment (Charifund)

COIF Fixed Interest (CCLA)

Cost 2011MarketValue2011

43,792

55,047

86,240

185,079

MarketValue2010 Cost 2010

31,397

44,160

82,901

158,458

42,988

56,050

83,216

182,254

31,397

44,160

82,901

158,458

24

Fixed asset investments

Debtors




Trade debtors

Other debtors

2011£

2012£

1,408

18,486

19,894

32,375

34,289

66,664

Trade creditors

Social security and other taxes

Deferred income - Restricted

Deferred income - Voluntary

Accruals and other creditors

2011£

2012£

8,504

5,592

88,583

6,000

56,196

164,875

63,336

6,348

45,000

4,600

22,052

141,336

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

25



26

Restricted funds

0

(3,672)

(37,174)

(31,711)

37,174

0

0

0

0

31,711

0

3,672

0

0

0

0

Readers and Writers

Writers at Risk

Writers in Translation

Campaigns

Bloomberg L.P.


European Commission


Nuffield Foundation

Open Society Foundation

Other Restricted Grants

Prisoners of Conscience

The Monument Trust

The Sigrid Rausing Trust

The Vodafone Foundation

0

0

0

0

15,000

9,500

14,407

15,000

99,500

73,964

40,500

0

16,000

45,833

2,750

332,454

0

0

0

0

4,187

975

0

2,380

0

1,736

0

3,172

0

0

2,120

14,570

16,234

3,447

0

0

47,987

8,525

14,407

12,620

99,500

103,939

40,500

500

16,000

45,833

630

410,122

16,234

7,119

37,174

31,711

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

92,238

TransfersIncoming

Resources£

Balance at 2012

£

ResourcesExpended

£

Balance at2011

£




27

The Readers and Writers programme Readers & Writers is the general education programme involving the employment of writers to run workshops in prisons, refugee and migrant centres, young offender institutions, youth groups and schools. Several of the funders listed below contribute to this programme and they are now listed separately. The Clore Duffield Foundation funded a project (under the Readers and Writers programme) called Wish You Were Here, which linked up a disadvantaged school in Islington with a school in Freetown, Sierra Leone, bringing young people together through creative letter writing and global citizenship. The European Commission Representation in the United Kingdom funded a project (under the Readers and Writers programme) called Big Writing For A Small World, which enabled English PEN to work in ten refugee centres across the country, bringing writers together with refugees, migrants and asylum seekers. John Lyon’s Charity funded the youth element of the Big Writing For A Small World project, enabling English PEN to bring a high quality literature programme to 40 young people from disadvantaged schools in Brent. The Monument Trust funded (under the Readers and Writers programme) our ongoing work in English prisons, sending writers inside to run workshops and give readings. We ask publishers to send the writers’ books into the prison. Bloomberg LP contributed to English PEN’s Writers in Translation PEN Promotes! programme. Bloomberg is a global business and financial news organisation whose philanthropic arm supports literacy and the arts among other interests, with an emphasis on global reach, effective engagement and innovation.

The Sigrid Rausing Trust funded English PEN’s ongoing work with Writers at Risk around the world. The trust is a grant-giving foundation founded by Sigrid Rausing to support the international human rights movement. The Nuffield Foundation contributed to English PEN’s UK campaign for libel reform and alternative dispute resolution through its Social Policy grant-giving arm. This aims to being about positive change in society by critical examination of institutions, laws and social services that govern our lives. The Open Society Foundation contributed to English PEN’s UK campaign for libel reform. Established by George Soros, the OSF works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. The Prisoners of Conscience Appeal Fund provides a block grant which English PEN distributes to help support the parents, spouses and children of writers who are censored by imprisonment (or the threat of imprisonment). The Vodafone Foundation provided funds for the employment of a student intern.



28

Limited Liability

5,948

0

5,948

General Unrestricted Funds

Restricted Funds

Total Funds

70,595

14,570

85,165

92,238

139,093

231,331

261,622

14,570

276,192

5,948

0

5,948

Investments£

NetCurrent

Assets£

Total 2011£

Total 2012£

TangibleFixed Assets

£

Analysis of Net Assets Between Funds - Group

English PEN is a company limited by guarantee. Liability is limited to £1 per member.

As at 31 March 2012 there were 1,250 members.

Operating Lease Commitments

At 31 March 2012 English PEN had no annual commitments under operating leases.

APB Ethical Standard - Provisions Available for Small Entities

In common with many other business of our size and nature we use our auditors to prepare and submit returns to the tax

authorities, and to assist in the preparation of the financial statements.


29

English PENFree Word Centre

60 Farringdon RoadLondon EC1R 3GA

T +44 (0) 20 7324 2535

Editor

Heather Norman Söderlind

Design

Brett Biedscheid, statetostate.co.uk

Printed by Aldgate Press

English PEN is a company limited by guarantee, number 5747142 and a

registered charity, number 1125610

Registered OfficeFree Word Centre60 Farringdon RoadLondon EC1R 3GAwww.englishpen.org

Registered Company Number05747142 (England and Wales)

Registered Charity Number1125610

Documents

Annual Report 2011-12