Nova Evropa

John Galsworthy and the P. E. N..

At the Ninth International Congress af the P. E. N. m Holland, Dr. Milan Ćurčin proposed that John Galsworthy should remain President of the international committee sine die. His proposal received the backing of the whole congress, but was resisted by Mr, Galsworthy himself, In my report of the proceedin8s I find these words: »Finally, Mr. Galsworthy consented to be President for the coming year, leaving the future to take care of itself«. That was in 1931. Galsworthy continued in office till the day-of his death, and we who have worked with him since the mception of. the PO BLNU n 1921 are wondering" how the future will take care of itself,

Galsworthy took the P. E. N. very нећу, olova wholeheartedly in its mission. To him it was a vehicle for the expression and promotion of friendliness. He had no great belief in its power to achieve what are called practical measures. The status of the writer, the marketing of his work, the legal aspect of literary property — these things, he felt, were the business of other oršanisations. The P. E. N.'s concern is with things of the spirit, The author wields immense power. Even more than the spoken word, the written word can make its impression on the thought of the world, dividing or uniting people and nations. If all the serious writers in the five continents were bound together in a common desire to promote friendliness, what an immeasurably бгеаћ ромer theirs would be! When, therefore, Mrs, Dawson Scofi, the English novelist, founided the P. E. N. in 1921, it was not long before John Galsworthy allowed himself to be drawn into her net. From the bešdinning, it was because of his belief in its potentiality as an international force that he devoted himself to it ungrudgingćly, and the idea of holding an annual congress m different parts of the world was his. I believe I am right in saying that he attended al] of them except one, and I know. that he and his wife were looking forwarld with keen pleasure to this year's meeting in Jugoslavia. -

It was in Brussels — at the fifth congress – — that he drafted a. resolution which was put forward in the name of the English, Belgian, French, and German centres and carried unanimously. and as it is still the most carefully considered statement of the functions and aim of the P. E. N. it is worth while recalling it:

(а) Literature, nalional though it be in origin, knows no frontiers, and should remain common currency between the nations, in spite of political or international upheavals.

(b) In all circumstances, then, and particularly in time of war, works of art, the patrimony of humanity at large, 3BOuJd be left untouched by national or political passion.