Founded in 1921, PEN – which stands for Poets, Essayists, Novelists – is the world's largest and best-known association of writers engaged in promoting rights and free expression for writers. This is the first handbook to describe PEN’s organizational structure and history. In addition to basic information about PEN International, this forthcoming publication will focus specifically on German-language PEN centers, with a special emphasis on their history in Germany, from their founding to the present. Amplified by a bibliographic index of all members, as well as comprehensive source material, the handbook will prove a valuable compilation, not only for literary scholars, historians, and PEN members, but also for everyone involved in the world of literature.

Dorothée Bores, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz; Sven Hanuschek, Ludwig-Maximiliams-Universität, München