Worldwide Reading for the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo on 20th March 2012

After drafting the Charta 08 with other dissidents, Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to seven years in prison on the flimsy accusation that he had “undermined state authority”. In response, the international literature festival berlin (ilb) has once again called for another worldwide reading in support of the Nobel Laureate on 20 March 2012, the anniversary of the political lie.

APPEAL

The international literature festival Berlin (ilb) called on cultural institutions, schools, radio stations and interested parties to participate in a worldwide reading of prose and poems by the Chinese author and 2010 Nobel Peace prize laureate Liu Xiaobo on March 20^th 2012.

Three years ago, Liu was taken from his Beijing home and arrested. He waited more than 12 months to receive a formal sentence – 11 years of imprisonment for “inciting subversion of state power.” After the announcement of Liu’s receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize last year, the Chinese authorities put his wife, Liu Xia, a poet and photographer, under strict house arrest. She vanished from the private and public sphere on October 18, 2010, and to this day no one can reach her, either through phone, cell or internet.

Liu Xiaobo was imprisoned three times before his last arrest in 2008. While serving his three years of “Reeducation through labor” between 1996 and 1999, he wrote many poems in prison, all dedicated to his wife Liu Xia. As a young man, Liu devoured books on western and Chinese philosophy and literature, and this experience is strongly reflected in his lyrical writing. From Confucius to Kant, from Sima Qian to Van Gogh or Jesus, for young Liu Xiaobo, knowledge had no borders. As a proliferate writer, his writing has influenced generations of young people in China since the 1980s. When his articles and books were banned and censored in mainland China, he began submitting his writings to overseas Chinese websites. His books have been published in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the USA. Liu’s explosive and lyrical style, marked by its razor sharp criticisms and pervasive irony, has cooled down in recent years and transformed into more thoughtful and objective prose. He changed his role from an agitated activist to an observer and analyst.

Mimicking the form of Czechoslovakia’s Charter 77, Liu Xiaobo and his Chinese colleagues selected a rational and peaceful way to express their concern for China’s future development through their own manifesto, Charter 08. Freedom, equality, justice and human rights are universal values, standard in a modern society, and not inconsistent with the official rhetoric of the Chinese government, which touts China’s rule of law. Both within the Chinese Constitution and within the international treaties the Chinese government has signed, there is a guarantee of the freedoms of expression, assembly and publication. Thus, the accusation that Liu was “inciting subversion of state power” is a joke and a slap to China’s own face.

In fact, the more than 800 articles authored by Liu in the past ten years indicate exactly the opposite. In his book, Civil Awakening, The Dawn of a Free China, published in 2005, Liu explained that the reform in China is bottom-up and not top-down; that is, it does not start with the government, but rather, the real momentum of reform is generated by civil society, among the people at the grassroots level. The constant confrontation between common citizens, peasants, workers and official forces has awakened the consciousness of the Chinese people, so that they now are aware of their basic rights. As Liu said: “The slow but progressive process of changes cannot be achieved through radical demands of the government to remodel the whole society. The present tendency is that the self-generated changes in the society will slowly push the regime to move toward change.”

Liu Xiaobo is not only a fighter for democracy and freedom of expression, but also a humble humanist. That’s why the Chinese regime cannot tolerate him, because he does not only demand reform and a democratic future for China, he also demands a re-examination of Chinese history and an end to China’s one party dictatorship. He truly touches on the root of the problem, which is why the CCP is afraid of him and prefers to keep this agitator behind bars.

The goal of the worldwide reading is to share Liu Xiaobo’s works with a broader readership, to remind the world that a humanist, a freedom fighter, an outstanding writer and Nobel Peace Prize winner is still in a Chinese prison and to express the protest against it.

The international literature festival Berlin called for a worldwide reading on March 20^th 2012, the anniversary of the political lie, with a reading of Liu Xiaobo’s Prose and lyrics. More than 100 institutions, including radio and television stations, either participated in or reported on the worldwide readings across all continents.

The texts intended to be read on this worldwide reading are available in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Institutions and persons who participated in the reading are asked to send us their pictures and videos of the reading. The email address is: worldwidereading@literaturfestival.com

Appeal (English)

SIGNATORIES

TEXTS

Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Chinese)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (German)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (English)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Africaans)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Arabic)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Bosnian)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Dutch)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Finnish)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (French)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Hebrew)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Kurdish)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Komi-Permyak)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Polish)

Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Portuguese)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Rumanian)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Russian)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Slovenian)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Spanish)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Swedish)
Liu Xiaobo: Poem (Welsh)
Charta 08 (Chinese)
Charta 08 (German)
Charta 08 (English)
Charta 08 (French)
Charta 08 (Italian)
Charta 08 (Russian)

PARTICIPANTS

Accra (Ehalakasa Poetry Movement & Goethe Institut Accra) | Abuja (Onyekachi Umah) | Akersberga (Akademibokhandeln) | Amsterdam (Boekhandel Van Pampus) | Amsterdam (Amnesty International) | Ancona (La Punta della Lingua & Valerio Cuccaroni) | Angus (Writers in Prison Committee: Meffan Museum & Liz Niven) | Annapolis (Sarah Arvio & Annapolis Bookstore) | Antwerp (PEN Vlaanderen) | Antwerp (Writers in Prison Committee – PEN Vlaanderen) | Araraquara (deutschpur – Sprachschule) | Athens (ERT World & Odyssey) | Auckland (Courtney Meredith & Auckland Central Library) | Baden-Baden (Immo Sennewald & Kunsthalle Baden-Baden) | Bali (Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Ubud) | Bali (Janet de Neefe & Bar Luna Ubud) | Barcelona (Catalan PEN) | Batalha (Amnesty International Portugal) | Beijing (HomeShop) | Beirut (Lebanese PEN) | Belgrade (NOFM Independent Internet Radio & Supernovapoetry.net) | Bergen (Amnesty International) | Berlin (“einhundert_stühle” – beate maria wörz & Esther Dischereit) | Berlin (internationales literaturfestival berlin & Berliner Festspiele / Martin- Gropius-Bau & P.E.N. Zentrum Deutschland) | Berlin (multicult.fm) | Berlin (NPS Berlin) | Berlin (Roland Stelter & Rike Schmid & Café Haliflor / forum bmp) | Berlin (SAND Journal & Dialogue Books Bookshop) | Berlin (Iftach Starik) | Bilbao (Amnesty International Bilbao) | Bilbao (EITB – Euskal Irrati Telebista) | Bilbao (Radio Nervión) | Bilbao (Radio Euskadi) | Bodegraven (PEN The Netherlands: Adriaan van Dis) | Boras (Akademibokhandeln) | Borlänge (Akademibokhandeln) | Brandenburg a/d Havel (Internetradio WESTBRANDENBURG@NACHRICHTEN & Theater Brandenburg a. d. Havel in co-operation with Internetr@dio WARNOW Rostock & Volkstheater Rostock on www.plus.am) | Bratislava (Amnesty International Slovensko) Bratislava Slovakia) | Bremen (Amnesty International Bremen) | Bremen (Exil-P.E.N. & Bremer Literaturkontor) | Bremen (Kurdisches PEN-Zentrum) | Bromma (Akademibokhandeln) | Brussels (Die Grünen im Europäischen Parlament – Europäische Freie Allianz) | Burgos (Group of Burgos, writers & friends) | Burnaby (Institute for Humanities & World Literature Program & Asia Canada Program & David Lam Center for International Communication & Simon Fraser University) | Cape Town (Independent Theatre Movement) | Cape Town (Toni Stuart & Shabbir Banoobhai & Diana Ferrus & Sandile Dikeni) | Caldas da Rainha (Amnesty International Portugal) | Caracas (Cultura Chacao, Biblioteca Los Palos Grandes) | Coimbra (Universidade de Coimbra – Faculdade de Letras) | Cologne (WDR 3 – Mosaik) | Cologne (WDR 5 – Bücher) | Cologne (Alfred-Müller-Armack-Berufskolleg) | Danderyd (Akademibokhandeln) | Darmstadt (P.E.N.-Center Germany) | De Moines (Tommy Schmitz) | Denver (Jon Widmark) | Durban (Amnesty International Durban Group) | Durban (Time of the Writer International Writers Festival) | Durban (St. Mary’s Anglican Church Greyville) | Eberswalde (Axel Vogel & Bündnis 90/Die Grünen im Brandenburger Landtag) | Edinburgh (Writers in Prison Committee: Bashabi Fraser) | Emmendingen (Gewerbliche und Hauswirtschaftlich-Sozialpflegerische Schulen & UNESCO Projektschule) | Ermesinde (Amnesty International Portugal) | Eskilstuna (Akademibokhandeln) | Espinho(Rotary Club Espinho & Rotaract Club Espinho) | Espinho (Rita Jorge da Cunha Jorge) | Espinho (J.A. Moreira de Sousa) | Estremoz (Amnesty International Portugal) | Falun (Akademibokhandeln) | Farsta (Akademibokhandeln) | Florida (West Florida Writer’s Federation Conference) | Foix (Pierre-Jean Brassac) | Frankfurt am Main (Hessisches Literaturforum im Mousonturm) | Frankfurt am Main (Stadtbücherei Frankfurt am Main) | Gävle (Akademibokhandeln) | Geneva (169 PEN Suisse Romand) | Genoa (Genoa International Poetry Festival) | Gießen (“Gefangenes Wort” & Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen & hr2 – Hessischer Rundfunk) | Gent (European Festivals Association (EFA)) | Gettysburg (Utz Rachowski & Gettysburg College) | Glasgow (Etta Dunn & Glasgow University PEN) | Göttingen (Gesellschaft für Bedrohte Völker) | Greenfield (Human Error Publishing & Paul Richmond) | Greenfield (Poet’s Seat Tower) | Groningen (The Netherlands: Suzanna Jansen) | Hamburg (Armin Sengbusch & Katharina Schütz & Helmut Steckel) | Hamburg (Kirchengemeinde St. Markus & Tibet Initiative Deutschland e.V., Regionalgruppe Hamburg) | Hamburg (Helene-Lange-Gymnasium & Gymnasium Kaiser-Friedrich-Ufer) | Haninge (Akademibokhandeln) | Helsingborg (Akademibokhandeln) | Helsinki (Finnish PEN) | Hong Kong (Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC)) | Hong Kong (Asia Literary Review) | Hong Kong (“1908” – Bookstore) | Huddinge (Akademibokhandeln) | Jönköping (Akademibokhandeln) | Kaiserslautern (Amnesty International Jugendgruppe am St.-Franziskus-Gymasium und – Realschule) | Kalmar (Akademibokhandeln) | Karachi (Nayyara Rahman) | Karlstad (Akademibokhandeln) | Kempen (Rhein-Maas-Berufskolleg) | Kempten (Michl Graff) | Kiel (Falkemedia e.K. – Redaktion Bücher) | Kista (Akademibokhandeln) | Kudymkar (Petr Korolev) | Lagos (Jumoke Verissimo & PEN Nigeria) | Lahore (PEN Pakistan Center) | Leiden (Aalmarkt 14 & Martin Aart de Jong & Leids Dichtersgilde) | Leiria (Amnesty International Portugal) | Leverkusen (Werner-Heisenberg-Gymnasium) | Lidingö (Akademibokhandeln) | Linköping (Akademibokhandeln) | Lisbon (Amnesty International Portugal) | Ljubljana (Radio Student) | London (Martin Alexander) | London (International PEN Magazine) | London (King’s College English Pen Society) | London (PEN International) | London (Writers in Prison Committee) | London (English PEN) | London (Poetry Society) | London (Priya Basil) | Los Angeles (100 Thousand Poets for Change) | Lourosa (Amnesty International Portugal) | Lübeck (Amnesty International Lübeck) | Lübstorf (Helga Schubert, PEN, Pastor Thorsten Markert, Regionalschule Lübstorf) | Luleä (Akademibokhandeln) | Lund (Akademibokhandeln) | Madrid (El Planeta de los Libros & Radio Círculo & Nieves Martín Díaz) | Madrid (Amnistía Internacional España) | Madrid (100-Stühle-Aktion & Círculo Literario de Madrid) | Mautern an der Donau (Amnesty International & Sue Weissenbeck) | Melbourne (Amnesty International Australia) | Melbourne (ABC Radio National – Books and Arts Daily) | Milano (Libreria il Trittico & Esperanto PEN) | Millstatt(NETZWERK AKS) | Montréal (Amnistie internationale Canada francophone) | Montréal (P.E.N. Québec & Festival international de la Poésie de Trois-Rivières & Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ)) | Nacka (Akademibokhandeln) | New York (PEN American Center & PEN World Voices: The New York Festival of International Literature) | New York (Museum of Chinese) | Nicosia (Cyprus Centre of the I.T.I. & Rooftop Theater) | Norrköping (Akademibokhandeln) | Ödakra (Akademibokhandeln) | Örebro (Akademibokhandeln) | Örnsköldsvik (Akademibokhandeln) | Östersund (Akademibokhandeln) | Ovar (Biblioteca Além das Letras do Agrupamento de Escolas de Maceda e Arada) | Palma/Mallorca (Amnesty International Palma) | Paris (Étonnants Voyageurs – Festival international du livre & du film) | Paris (Pangea) | Pasadena (Pasadena Public Library) | Pforzheim (Theater Pforzheim) | Pitea (Akademibokhandeln) | Plymouth/New Hampshire (Michael Aldrich) | Porto (Amnesty International Portugal) | Prague (Plav & Charles University – Faculty of Arts) | Prishtine (Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina) | Providence (Brown University & Freedom of Expression Festival) | Queensland (Noosa Pengari Steiner School) | Reykjavik (Icelandic PEN at the City Hall of Reykjavik) | Rheinbach (Staatliches Berufskolleg Rheinbach) | Rostov-on-Don (DAAD & Radio Rostov) | Sabadell (Javier Altayó) | San Miguel de Allende (San Miguel PEN) | Sarajevo (PEN Center Bosnia-Herzegovina & Radio Sarajevo) | Seattle (PoetsWest) | Seattle (Washington Center for the Book at Seattle Public Library and Elliott Bay Book & Kevin Craft, Sharon Cumberland, Kathleen Flenniken, Alan Lau, Erin Malone, Susan Rich) | Van Wert (Robert Aldrich & The Brumback Library) | Sintra (Amnesty International Portugal) | Skopje (Diversity) | Skövde (Akademibokhandeln) | Södertälje (Akademibokhandeln) | Sollentuna (Akademibokhandeln) | Solna (Akademibokhandeln) | St. Andrews (Writers in Prison Committee: StAnza Poetry Festival & A.C. Clarke) | Stockholm (Swedish PEN) | Stockholm (Nobelprize.org) | Stockholm (Weyler Förlag) | Sundsvall (Akademibokhandeln) | Sydney (Sydney PEN Centre & John Tranter) | Sydney (2SER 107.3 – Sydney Radio Station) |Täby (Akademibokhandeln) | Toronto (Amnesty International & China Rights Network) | Toulouse (Pierre-Jean Brassac) | Trollhättan (Akademibokhandeln) | Tromsø (Ordkalotten Tromsø International Literary Festival & University of Tromsø) | Umea (Akademibokhandeln) | Uppsala (Akademibokhandeln) | Utrecht (Het Poëziecircus) | Utrecht (Arnoud Rigter & Isabelle van Dooren Huiskamerconcert) | Utrecht (Merijn Schipper) | Västeras (Akademibokhandeln) | Västra Frölunda (Akademibokhandeln) | Växjo (Akademibokhandeln) | Venlo (Hanneke Eggels & Museum Van Bommel Van Dam) | Viersen (Clara-Schumann-Gymnasium Dülken) | Vila Nova de Cerveira (Amnesty International Portugal) | Vila Nova de Famalicão (Amnesty International Portugal) | Warsaw (Polish PEN) | Washington D.C. (Ellen Bork) | Washington D.C. (Radio Free Asia) | Wellington (Wellington Access Radio – ‘Filipiniana sa Aotearoa’) | Zurich (Literaturhaus Museumgesellschaft)