United Nations Society of Writers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United Nations Society of Writers is a Club for United Nations staff registered with the United Nations Socio Cultural Commission in Geneva, and is known under the acronyms UNSW and SENU, corresponding to Societé des écrivains des Nations Unies. It was founded in Geneva on 14 August 1989 by Sergio Chaves (Argentina), Leonor Sampaio (Brazil) and Alfred de Zayas (USA).
[edit] Overview
The UNSW organizes literary events, poetry readings, round tables and publishes a yearly literary journal Ex Tempore. The name Ex Tempore was chosen since staff contributions should be crisp, impromptu, and as far away as possible from the stale UN jargon of resolutions and reports.
UNSW has proven that UN staffers can also write literature. The journal Ex Tempore has been widely acclaimed in the Swiss press and received media attention from the Tribune de Geneve, Le Courrier, Le Journal de Geneve, Le Temps, DIVA International. Its members have been interviewed by local radio stations, including Radio Cite. The journal has its own issn number: ISSN 1020-6604.
The last number of Ex Tempore is Vol. XVI (December 2005) and can be obtained by contacting kkaminker@unog.org or zayas@bluewin.ch.
On Friday, 27 January 2006, UNSW held its 10th annual salon. 67 Poets and essayists from the United Nations Office in Geneva, some of them members of PEN International read their oeuvres in English, French, German, Spanish, Russian -- even Arabic, Vietnamese and Dutch. We celebrated the centennial of the birth of Samuel Beckett and the bicentennial of the birth of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, whose "Sonnets from the Portuguese" seduced not just her husband Robert Browning!.
On Thursday, 18 May 2006 UNSW hosted a lunchtime music-and-poetry event in the Cinema Room at the Palais des Nations. Thanks to the organization and charm of Karin Kaminker and Alex Ezana, it was a resounding success.
[edit] Board
After 15 years as president of the UN Society of Writers, Alfred de Zayas retired in December 2005, remaining only as editor of the review. The new Board is made up by the following officers:
- President: Karin Kaminker
- Vice-President: Carla Edelenbos
- Secretary: Alexa Intrator
- Treasurer: Janet Weiler
- Editor-in-chief: Alfred de Zayas
