In an anthology titled ‘Book of Voices’ written in support of Sierra Leone PEN and edited by the founder and first Executive Secretary of PEN Sierra Leone, Mike Butscher, in 2005, the rationale for the formation of PEN CENTRE, Sierra Leone is succinctly captured as follows:
“After the civil war in Sierra Leone, a national reconstruction, rehabilitation and reintegration process started in 2000. However, Sierra Leonean writers, who have contributed immensely to documenting the history, literature and culture of the country, have not benefited from any national programmes.
In order to stop the rapid decline of literary interest, and reduce the exodus of writers, Sierra Leone PEN, a non-profit organization that was formally readmitted as a full-fledged member of International PEN at Ohrid, Macedonia in September 2002, was launched in Freetown on 13 May 2003.”
With a membership of twenty people, the Centre was established in May, 2003 as a voluntary organization registered with the Ministry of Social Welfare. The Centre got off on a slow pace as it tried to find its feet. The first two years saw efforts to recruit members and introduce the Centre to Sierra Leoneans, particular writers. A series of literary evenings, entailing mainly poetry and short story readings were organised to attract members.
The Centre activities peaked in 2005; in collaboration with the British Council, the Centre played host to a British writer Caryll Phillips, who gave series of talks on writing and readings from his works to small but enthusiastic audiences.
Also in 2005, the Centre launched the maiden edition of its magazine, the PEN POINT Magazine, with contributions from leading Sierra Leonean writers at home and abroad.
That same year also saw the launching of the school clubs program with five schools in the capital Freetown. The overall goal of the program was to promote literature among young people in various regions across the country by generating more interest in reading and writing for pleasure and enlightenment through development and strengthening of reading and writing programs in schools. The school clubs program has become one of the Centre’s key activities in pursuit of our main goal of promoting literature through engagement with reading and writing.
Again in 2005, Sierra Leone PEN organized its first literary award ceremony to honor writers who had made significant contribution to Sierra Leonean literature over the years.
In 2006 the Annual Talabi Asie Lucan Writers workshop was launched. The workshop, named after a prominent female writer, brought together writers as peers to review each other’s works and explore possibilities of publishing. The workshop also provides training in writing to its school club members, older members and interested members of the public.
In 2007 the situation of the Sierra Leone PEN Centre improved remarkable when, through PEN International, it became a beneficiary of both the UNESCO Innovation Fund and the SIDA Programme Fund established to support PEN International Regional Programmes. The Innovation Fund was used to strengthen the centre through the implementation of a membership campaign and a strategic planning workshop that saw the establishment of a structure with standing committees that made the centre more focused and effective. The Programmatic funding made possible the expansion of the school clubs activities beyond Freetown, the capital. The Centre now has thirty-four PEN school clubs all over the country, comprising of an average of forty five members per club. The benefit of the club spilled over to the communities with beneficiaries ranging in the thousands.
This fund also supported Centre exchange programmes. Between 2007 and 2009 the Centre played host to four African centres – Uganda, Zambia, Ethiopia, and Guinea. And lastly the fund has been used since its inception for the yearly publication of a magazine for our school clubs and the organization of a yearly literary activity to mark an international human right or freedom of expression event like the Day of Imprisoned writers. The Centre exchanges have strengthened regional Centres through shared experiences, while the literary events have drawn attention to our Centre and attracted more members.
PEN Sierra Leone also played host to former PEN International President, Dr. John R. Saul in Freetown in November 2011. He was on his way to attend the Annual PEN Congress in Senegal. We organized literary activities in honour of him. This also includes a visit to one of our school clubs.
Also, these activities, some of which enjoyed local media coverage, have earned the Centre significant recognition and placed it in good standing in the country, making it possible for the Centre to establish partnerships with reputable organisations and institutions like the British Council, the US Embassy, the Ministry of Education, KARANTHA Publishers and presently the Canadian Organization for Development through Education (CODE).
Some of the prominent ongoing activities include increasing interest in reading and writing in the communities, book development and publishing.
The CODE/Sierra Leone PEN Book/Reading Sierra Leone project for example involves the running of a series of workshops over the years to train writers and illustrators to produce children’s books. Each year, two training workshops will be delivered by International trainers while local trainers will facilitate smaller knowledge exchange focused workshops. Three workshops have led to the production of manuscripts and eventually publication of twenty children’s titles over the years.
Another component of this project is the distribution of children books to some specifically targeted communities.