World-Wide Reading Day for Liu Xiaobo: Scottish PEN hosts 5 events!
On 20 March more than 49 cities and centres around the world staged readings featuring poems by Liu Xiaobo to call attention to his plight and the plight of other Chinese dissidents. This event, organised by the Peter Weiss Foundation in Berlin, was marked by no fewer than five readings in Scotland, second only to Germany itself in the number staged. All four corners of Scotland - North, South, East and West - were involved, from Ullapool to Dumfriesshire. Not bad for a small nation! Our thanks to all those enthusiastic SPEN members who organised the events. To see details click on the 'Read more' button.
St Andrews
We jumped the gun here, holding the reading on the Saturday, 19 March. Many thanks to Eleanor Livingstone and the rest of the StAnza organisers for letting us use the Conference room at the Byre Theatre and providing a photo backdrop of the Empty Chair which had been on exhibition for most of the StAnza Poetry Festival. Many thanks too to the StAnza poets who took part: Maiolios Caimbeul, Helena Nelson, Jila Peacock and Rab Wilson. Jean Rafferty, Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee, introduced the event and read a Liu Xiaobo poem. This was followed by readings of Shi Tao's poem 'June' in English, Scots, Gaelic and Farsi by the StAnza poets. The Conference Room was filled to capacity with an audience for many of whom a Scottish PEN event would have been a new experience. Several spoke afterwards of how moved they had been by the readings and many took postcards to send in support of Liu Xiaobo. It was a great opportunity to let the poets and poetry lovers who come to StAnza know more about our work.
Anne Clarke
Glasgow
The Writers in Prison (Scotland) Committee and Glasgow University PEN jointly organised a reading for Liu Xiaobo's work at the Scotia Bar in Glasgow, to mark the Worldwide Reading Day, spontaneously joining nearly half a dozen Scottish events and the many readings around the world in a show of solidarity with the intrepid defender of freedom of expression. The event was organized jointly by Fiona Rintoul and Jean Rafferty and chaired by Bashabi Fraser. On a wet, grey Sunday, Scotia Bar glowed with the warmth of its welcoming staff and a dedicated audience. The Empty Chair which has been artistically sculptured and crafted by Helensborough High School students, to speak for the absent voices of imprisoned writer, took centre stage, symbolising Liu Xiaobo's presence in his absence. What marked this event as special was the inspiration that Liu Xiaobo's work and courage had evoked in the students of Edinburgh Napier University' undergraduate creative writing students who had read his work in class and written poems in protest against and in response to Liu Xiaobo's situation. Their impassioned and sensitive reading of Liu Xiaobo's poetry and of their own poems to the Nobel Laureate made the event both appealing and memorable. The student participants were Antonia Landi, Tony Gourgeon, Jamie Livingstone, Grant Wright, Jennie Ladd and Naomi Head. Poet Shampa Ray joined Fiona and Jean with further readings from Liu Xiaobo's work and Charter 8.
Jean also remembered Shi Tao (another Chinese writer adopted by Scottish PEN) reading his 'June' poem. The audience took away postcards stating the cases of Liu Xiaobo and Shi Tao as imprisoned writers, which they would post to continue the campaign for their release.
Bashabi Fraser
Castle Douglas
A South west Scotland PEN event was held in Castle Douglas for Liu Xiaobo. The King's Arms in Castle Douglas kindly donated the room free of charge and a small, enthusiastic audience listened to translated readings of Liu Xiaobo's poetry.
Readers included Fiona Buchanan, John Niven, Carolyn Yates, John Burns, Kate Tuf and myself and all had travelled from various locations across Dumfries & Galloway.
In the process of researching the internet before the event, excellent recordings were found on America Pen of Liu Xiaobo's poetry read by writers including Edward Albee and Paul Auster. The variations in translations were an interesting discussion point.
As wells as the postcard poem 'A Small Rat in Prison', poems for his wife were read, including 'Longing to Escape' and the powerful, 'You Wait for me With Dust'. We also read extracts from Charter 08 and all present stated their firm beliefs that some form of greater democracy must be found for China.
There was general discussion afterwards about repression amongst Chinese writers and artists and participants took 'Free Liu Xiaobo' postcards to give to friends unable to attend the readings.
Liz Niven
Ullapool
On the evening of 19 March the launch of the Ullapool Book Festival programme was already planned, with James Robertson reading and talking to Mark Wringe. The chair of the UBF, Joan Michael, agreed that this would be a good opportunity to remember Liu Xiaobo. After his own reading, James read one of Liu Xiaobo's poems, 'You wait for me with Dust' and explained to the audience who Liu Xiaobo is and why they should care about his imprisonment. A stack of campaign cards were all snapped up - we could have done with more. People here are very sympathetic to such an obvious travesty of justice and it brings home to us how lucky we are to be able to write and say pretty much what we like about politics.
Mandy Haggith
Aberdeen
Publicity
This event was organized at short notice. I made contact via e-mail with all the writer's groups and organisations in the area. I sent a copy of the background information supplied by the very helpful and enthusiastic Jean Rafferty at Scottish PEN, plus the attached flyer. I also put up flyers round Aberdeen University, and e-mailed a press release to the local paper, the Press and Journal.
I also set up a Facebook page of my own – have always avoided it till now - and posted details of the meeting, and issues involved, on it.
The Meeting
17 people attended. I talked about Scottish PEN – most were unaware of it – and read a bit from the principles it stands for, as outlined in the membership-list booklet. I read PEN's statement re Liu Xiaobo's situation, and that of his family and other Chinese writers , and then read Liu's poem. The fact that this was part of a world-wide series of events held on one day gave a real sense of contributing to a collaborative effort; of the potential for our expressed concerns to make a difference.
This was followed by a number of readings, including other attenders reading additional poems by Liu (supplied by Jean), and many reading their own. After an hour or so we had a coffee and social. I asked for contributions to cover the costs of hiring the room - £24 – and in the end there was £51. A cheque for £27 has gone to Scottish PEN.
People enjoyed the meeting. Something more tangible from PEN than the website details– membership application forms? - might be good next time.
Ian Crockatt
