Journalist Deniz Yücel had previously declared his resignation and withdrawal from the Authors Club: “I don’t need it – it’s take it or leave it, PEN”.
Writer Josef Haslinger, who hails from Zwettl, Lower Austria, will temporarily lead the German PEN Center as president. The 66-year-old writer was elected acting head of the writers association on Saturday with a large majority. He is expected to lead the writers association until the new elections in a few months.
The author (“Opera Ball”, “Das Vaterspiel”, “Mein Fall”) was president of PEN from 2013 to 2017. He wanted to prepare for the restart, he said. The PEN emergency council became necessary because the entire presidium in Gotha, which had only been elected in October, had resigned.
First on Friday, journalist Deniz Yücel surprisingly announced his resignation after only avoiding the vote. “I don’t want to be president of this sausage stand,” he said, and immediately declared his resignation from the writers’ association. Haslinger, along with four other former presidents of the PEN center, had already asked for Yücel’s resignation.
“I don’t need it – take it or leave it, PEN.”
Previously, the resignation had been rejected by a narrow majority. Of the 161 valid votes, 75 voted against and 73 in favor. Yücel, 48, only became head of the PEN center last October. Regarding the disputes within the presidium, Yücel said in Gotha: “I don’t need it – it’s take it or leave it, PEN”.
The background was an internal power struggle. The fights essentially revolved around leadership style, allegations of bullying, and the tone of the conversation. The allegations relate to extensive correspondence at the Presidium. The Presidium’s management style was hotly and angrily debated in Gotha. PEN members such as Herbert Wiesner and Markus Ostermair spoke out in favor of a younger workforce.
The PEN Center Germany, which claims to have 770 members, is one of more than 140 writers’ associations worldwide that are united in the international PEN. The three letters represent the words poets, essayists and novelists.
(APA/dpa)