FREE LIU XIA: PEN TO SCREEN NEVER BEFORE SEEN FOOTAGE OF DETAINED CHINESE POET

 

 

 

 

On January 14, the Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC), PEN American Center, and Friends of LXB will screen a short video, filmed secretly in December 2013, of poet and artist Liu Xia under house arrest in China, while her husband, writer and Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo, serves an 11-year prison sentence for his writing. The event will begin with a screening of the new short documentary “The Wife outside the Barred Window”, examining the history of Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia’s cases, followed by readings of Liu Xia’s newly translated poems by poets Victoria Redel and others in English and by Hua Ze and others in the original Chinese. The event will conclude with a discussion of Liu Xia’s current living situation and the state of free expression in China to raise awareness of the couple and others who suffer under political persecution in mainland China.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liu Xia is a poet, artist, and founding member of Independent Chinese PEN Center. Since her husband was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2010, Liu Xia has been held in her Beijing apartment without access to phones, Internet, doctors of her choice, or visitors. As she enters the third year of detention, security appears to be tightening around her. As reported last month in the New York Times, increased restrictions on the poet have raised concerns that she is suffering from severe depression.

 

 

WHO:  The Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC), PEN American Center, and Friends of LXB

 

 

WHAT:  Free Liu Xia: A reading of the detained Chinese poet’s most poignant works in Chinese and English

 

 

WHERE: Roosevelt House at Hunter College, 47-49 East 65th Street New York, NY

 

 

WHEN: Tuesday, January 14, 2014, 6:00 – 8:00pm

 

 

 

This event is free and open to the public. Press who wish to attend should RSVP to David Rong, Director, ICPC office in New York: davidwrong@yahoo.com or 646-595-5888.

 

 

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PEN American Center and Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC) are among 145 centers of PEN International. Founded in 1922, PEN American Center is a community of 3,800 American writers working to break down barriers to free expression around the world (more at PEN.org). Founded in 2001, ICPC is a group of 300 writers promoting Chinese literature worldwide and defending freedom of expression in China (more at chinesepen.org).

 

CONTACT

 

 

Xue Di, Independent Chinese PEN Center, xuedi6@gmail.com

 

 

David Rong, Independent Chinese PEN Center, 646-595-5888, davidwrong@yahoo.com

 

 

Sarah Hoffman, PEN American Center, 212-334-1660 ext. 111, sarah@pen.org

 

  两笔会和刘晓波之友将在纽约举行“还刘霞自由”活动

 

（独立中文笔会2014年1月10日讯）独立中文笔会、美国笔会和刘晓波之友会将于14日晚上6时到8时，在纽约市立大学杭特学院的美国总统前罗斯福故居（Roosevelt House at Hunter College, 47-49 East 65th Street, New York），联合举办“刘霞诗作朗诵及其最新录影播映：还刘霞自由”活动。负责筹备活动的独立中文笔会会长贝岭表示，他已经邀请美国笔会会长彼得•戈德温（Peter Godwin）、刘晓波之友代表胡平、《纽约书评》主编罗伯特·西尔弗斯（Robert Silvers）等到会致辞。

 

 

 

 

                                                        

此项活动将放映一部最新的6分多钟纪录短片《铁窗外的妻子》，主要描述正在监狱中服11年徒刑的本会荣誉会长刘晓波获得诺奖后，他妻子刘霞被软禁与世隔绝的现状，以及朋友们从未停止尝试与她取得联系，并最终冲破封锁见到刘霞的努力——其中一段是在夜晚用红色激光笔打在窗玻璃上与刘霞取得联系的镜头，十分感人，催人泪下。本会会员华泽和美国笔会会员维多利亚・雷德尔（Victoria Redel）等女作家、诗人，将先后以中英双语朗诵刘霞的15首凄美诗作。会上还将首次播放刘霞在软禁中朗诵新诗作的频视。

 

刘霞是诗人、艺术家，也是独立中文笔会创会会员和荣誉会员，自2010年10月她丈夫刘晓波被颁布为诺贝尔和平奖得主以来，一直被非法软禁在她北京的公寓里，不能使用电话和互联网，也不能自行选择医生及接待访客。今年进入她被拘禁的第四个年头，对她的监控似乎更加收紧。正如《纽约时报》上月所报道，中国当局对这位诗人的加强监控已经引起普遍关注，她患有严重抑郁症的消息尤为令人担忧。

 

是次活动将凸显并讨论刘霞目前极其困难的生存状态和中国日渐恶化的言论自由状况，呼吁国际社会进一步关注刘晓波夫妇以及其他在中国大陆遭受政治迫害者。

 

活动免费向公众开放。有意出席者请及早联系：

独立中文笔会纽约办事处主任荣伟（David Rong），646-595-5888，davidwrong@yahoo.com。

 

独立中文笔会和美国笔会都属于有145个分会的国际笔会。独立中文笔会创立于2001年，是300多名中文写作者的团体，旨在全世界弘扬中文文学，尤其在中国维护言论自由（详情参见网页chinesepen.org）。美国笔会创立于1922年，是3800名美国写作者的团体，致力于在世界各地打破限制自由表达的壁垒（详情参见网页PEN.org）

 

笔会更多信息，请联系：

雪迪：独立中文笔会，xuedi6@gmail.com

萨拉•霍夫曼：美国笔会，212-334-1660分机 111，sarah@pen.org