On the 23rd of March Catalan PEN officially presented Sihem Bensedrine, Tunisian writer, journalist and human rights activist, as the new Barcelona Guest Writer at a press conference. Members of the Government of Catalonia and of the Barcelona City Council joined Ms. Dolors Oller, Chair of Catalan PEN, and Ms. Raffaella Salierno, Director of the Refuge Writer Programme, to welcome the new guest writer.
On the occasion of The International Day of the Imprisoned Writer, Shahrazad Barcelona are hosting "Distance and Literature" in Potenza on November 30. The event features Gian Antonio Stella, Maria Barbal, ICORN Guest Writers Manal Al-Sheikh (Stavanger) and Hamza Zirem (Potenza), and Maria Rosa Salvia.
ICORN, the network of which all six Shahrazad cities are members, has been established as an international membership organisation, headquartered in Stavanger, Norway.
The 2009 ICORN General Assembly will be hosted by the Catalan PEN in Barcelona, April 21 and 22.
