Programmes
PEN INternational works through four committees: WIPC (Writers in Prison Committee), TaLRC (Translations and Linguistic Rights Committee), WfPC (Writers for Peace Committee) and IPWWC (International PEN Women Writers Committee).
Further, the PEN works with ICORN (International Cities of Refuge Network), to meet the needs of writers attacked, and it has been created the PEN FUND, to achieve economic means.
WIPC
Writers in Prison Committee
The Writers in Prison Committee co-operates with other human rights organizations and PEN Centres in obtaining and disseminating information about cases of imprisoned or persecuted writers, and many PEN Centres elect these writers as honorary members and give them support by making appeals and protests on their behalf and, where possible, by writing to them and sending them parcels of books, clothes and medicines.
November 15th each year has been designated The Day of The Imprisoned Writer, when Centres all over the world organize special events to raise money to help writers in prison.
ICORN
International Cities of Refuge Network
Its origin is the organization called INCA (International Network of Cities of Asylum) created by the International Parliament of Writers in 1994. It is located in the Norwegian city of Stavanger, and with the help of PEN International, offers help to persecuted writers, to live in cities of asylum worldwide.
Through this network between cities, the writer and his family can live in a city for two years and then move to another city network, if it is still haunted
TLRC
Translations and Linguistic Rights Committee
The Committee for Translation and Linguistic Rights encourages translation of contemporary literature not only from small languages into world languages, but also between small languages.
It also speaks out in defence of stateless languages and has been given a mandate to do all it can to enforce the article on linguistic right (part of which is quoted below) which PEN has recommended be added to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
"Everyone has the right to express him or herself, orally and in writing, and to use in all the public and Official acts of the State of which he or she is a citizen the language of the community or minority established in the country and which he or she has chosen or to which he or she belongs".
PEN Fund
It is a charity located in the Netherlands and aims to provide practical assistance to writers who have been imprisoned or have suffered some type of aggression.
International PEN has created this fund to cover the needs of these writers and, through it, to raise funds.
WfPC
Writers for Peace Committte
The Writers for Peace Committee meets annually in Bled, Slovenia, to consider ways in which writers can work for peaceful co-existence in the world.
March 3rd each year is celebrated as Writers for Peace Day.
IPWWC
International PEN Women Writers Committee
The Women Writers Committee works to promote womens writing and publishing and encourages women to know, translate and popularize one anothers work.
It also supports the sharing of resources between women writers from industrialized countries and those from developing nations.
March 8th is the International Day of Working Women, and around this ephemeris the members of the Committee undertake activities to reduce the invisibility of women writers and to publicize their literary works.