Writers union gives voice to free speech around the world

Writers union gives voice to free speech around the world

Chisato Hara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In a country whose literature is muted, or at best under-read,
international acclaim of one of its authors or poets is a
precious anomaly.

As Pramoedya Ananta Toer said on June 2 in his acceptance
speech for the Norwegian Authors' Union Freedom of Expression
Award, "That a country of the North Pole would have ventured to
take notice of some writer in a country so very, very far away...
I am deeply honored and humbled to receive this recognition."

Founded in 1893, the union has a distinct role in Norway,
which can trace its literary tradition to runic inscriptions
nearly 2,000 years ago. These past 50 years or so, its writers
have been at the forefront of establishing the contemporary
tradition of a standardized contract and equality in publishing
rights.

One of the union's key missions is to protect and maintain
these rights, and its 500-strong membership consists of writers
with at least two published books under their literary belts.

Drawing upon the strong socio-democratic mind-set that is
prevalent, if not a defining, characteristic of Scandinavian
culture, the standard contract sets royalties at 20 percent for
all writers, regardless of their prominence. In addition, the
Norwegian public library system is committed to purchasing 1,000
copies of each book upon initial publication, among other
conditions, to ensure fair literary competition in a country of
4.5 million people.

A union, an association and loosely, a kind of guild, the
Norwegian Authors' Union, while focusing on financial and
artistic issues concerning the country's literary talent, is also
active in global issues, particularly in regard to copyright,
intellectual property rights and of course, promoting the written
word.

Toward these aims, the union has held a forum on copyright and
publishing contracts in Damascus and has established a safe haven
for writers in Kabul, -- the Authors' House -- and has also made
similar efforts in the Nicaraguan literary community.

Its Freedom of Expression Award falls under this sphere of
activity, and was initiated in 1993 upon a 100,000 Norwegian
kroner (Rp 125 million) grant from the Norwegian Ministry of
Cultural Affairs to commemorate its centenary. The award has been
conferred to Norwegian, Turkish, Palestinian and Israeli writers
since 1994.

For the award's 10th anniversary, the "North Pole" did indeed
come to the tropics and recognized its first Southeast Asian
recipient.

Geir Pollen, president of the union and a writer, poet and
translator, said he personally knew of no other writer who had
suffered -- yet endured -- for his craft as Pramoedya did during
the repressive frenzy of the post-Sukarno era.

On Oct. 13, 1965, the military descended upon Pramoedya's
residence, arrested him and beat him with rifle butts, causing
him to lose his hearing in one of his ears. He was incarcerated
for 14 years without trial.

His house and his vast collection of paintings by Indonesian
masters was confiscated -- and is still held by "the authorities"
to this day -- and his library, including many first editions by
various authors, essays and eight unpublished manuscripts, was
burned.

But his pen was not stayed: While imprisoned on Buru Island, a
notorious facility that held "political dissidents", he continued
to write, smuggling his manuscripts to a local Catholic church
for safekeeping and later, to be released into the outside world.

During the award ceremony at Taman Ismail Marzuki's Galeri
Cipta III, Pollen said: "You have been unwavering in fulfilling
your role as a writer and an intellectual, and in shouldering the
responsibilities that role entails: You have spoken out on behalf
of the common man, giving voice to common man's pain and agony,
as well as to his hope and determination to survive."

While this occasion was the first foray of the union here, he
hopes that it may mark the beginning of a cooperation with the
local literary community toward realizing -- and ensuring --
Indonesian writers' right to free speech.

The timeliness of the award against the backdrop of the
current political scene is no coincidence: The union's committee
on international issues, which nominates potential recipients, is
tasked with selecting candidates who have not only made a
historical contribution toward the development of literature in
their countries, but those whose work is also relevant within the
contemporary national context.

Other criteria are that the work be of high literary
craftsmanship, have a universal thematic application and make a
vital contribution to freedom of speech.

Today, Pramoedya's work has been translated into 38 languages,
with Norway being the 35th country to give voice to his writing
in a foreign tongue.

Thus far, the first three volumes of Pramoedya's Buru Quartet
have been translated, with the fourth and concluding volume to
come early next year. While he is no household name in Norway,
Pramoedya is already well-known among the literary and
journalistic community, and received critical acclaim in the
country's leading daily, Aftenposten.

As Pollen noted, in showing the world the price he paid for
free speech, Pramoedya and his work are a testament to the value
of freedom of expression.

Freedom of Expression recipients

1994 Izzat Ghazzawi (Palestine)

1995 Ismael Besikci; Akin Birdal, Isan Haklari Dernegi human rights
organization (Turkey)

1996 Joar Tranoy, psychiatrist (Norway)

1997 Yasar Kemal (Turkey?), Wole Soyinka (Nigeria)

1998 Axel Jensen (Norway)

1999 Yehude Simon Munaro (Peru)

2000 Zemljko Kopanja, editor (Serbia)

2001 Amos Oz (Israel)

2002 Anna Politkovskaja, journalist (Russia)

2003 Pramoedya Ananta Toer (Indonesia)