25 YEARS UNITED NATIONS SOCIETY OF WRITERS
In the spirit of the Constitution of UNESCO, all writers have a responsibility to build bridges among cultures and languages, to promote peace through literature. Twenty-five years ago on 14 August 1989 Sergio Chaves (Argentina), a translator at the United Nations in Geneva, Leonor Sampaio (Brazil), a human rights officer, and myself launched the United Nations Society of Writers over a cup of coffee in the art nouveau Bar de la Presse at the old Palais des Nations. Here we are again at the Bar de la Presse, marking the 25th anniversary of launching of our writers club and admiring the 24 colourful and eclectic volumes of “Ex Tempore”, our literary journal. We have so much to be thankful to Leonor Sampaio and Sergio Chaves, to Claude Citon. Aline Dedeyan, Diego Oyarzun and Pierre Jourdan who were there from the early days, to Ngozi Ibekwe, Rosita de Cabrera, Natalia Beglova, Hoang Nguyen and Fawzia Assaad, who joined us shortly thereafter. I enjoyed reading out an essay by Leonor and some sonorous poems by Sergio. Volume 25 is now in the pipeline and by the time the “Library event” of 14 October rolls around, we all hope that our anniversary XXV th issue will be out — hot from the press — and coolly online.
Alfred de Zayas' Human Rights Corner 
Arundhati Roy says writing flows across cultures as wildlife does across landscapes. I think war is the result of good men being manipulated by their culture into the worst action of their life. Roy says “Literature is the opposite of a new clear bohm, it just rolls over cultures and languages, it joins up where these bohms and borders seperate us”. Love your direct approach. I say share pride for peace, hoard pride for abuse. Humans are one family without need for any enemies 🙂 Share pride, R
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I am a young writer in Ghana and would be happy to be part of this big family. Thanks
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