{"id":832,"date":"2017-08-16T03:42:40","date_gmt":"2017-08-15T18:42:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nedforney.com\/?p=832"},"modified":"2018-03-04T21:34:39","modified_gmt":"2018-03-04T12:34:39","slug":"the-power-of-the-pen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nedforney.com\/index.php\/2017\/08\/16\/the-power-of-the-pen\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of the PEN"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/nedforney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/PEN-Friends.jpeg\" alt=\"PEN Friends\" itemprop=\"image\" height=\"386\" width=\"640\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve all heard the old adage, \u201cThe pen is mightier than the sword.\u201d Today, however, it seems a bit outdated. With instantaneous news feeds and social media tweets, posts, and shares bombarding us 24\/7, the pen seems to have gone the way of the telegram, processed film, and the 8-track. \u201cNo one writes anymore,\u201d people decry.<\/p>\n<p>But what they really mean is everything\u2019s digital. Although the traditional medium is losing its once esteemed dominance, written communication, whether it\u2019s a two-line tweet, a five-paragraph blog, or a page-long, self-indulging Facebook post, is as powerful as ever. And constantly evolving. Who knows, pen and paper might make a comeback . . . printed texts and Moleskin journals are enjoying a resurgence in popularity.<\/p>\n<p>And not everyone has forgotten the wonders of a page-turning, &#8220;I can\u2019t put it down&#8221; book.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_837\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-837\" src=\"http:\/\/nedforney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/PEN-Reading-a-story-written-by-Mrs.-Jeon-at-a-PEN-meeting-300x237.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"237\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-837\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Reading a story written by Mrs. Jeon at a PEN meeting<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I recently attended a meeting of PEN Korea, the Korean branch of PEN International, the writers\u2019 organization founded in London in 1921. My good friend, Jeon Kyun-ae, a well-known Korean writer, had invited me to join her for an afternoon with Korean \u201cpoets, essayists, and novelists\u201d (PEN). Today the acronym includes playwrights and editors.<\/p>\n<p>While Mrs Jeon introduced me to her eclectic mix of writer friends from throughout Seoul and Korea, I met Sohn Hae-il, the president of PEN Korea, director of the Korean Writers\u2019 Association, and accomplished poet. Like his colleagues, he\u2019s passionate about literature. \u201cLiterature is food for the soul and a mirror of the world,\u201d he said. Adding, \u201cIt has a cathartic effect on our hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Towards the end of meeting, I was asked to make a few remarks. I thanked the participants for their hospitality, and echoing the words of PEN\u2019s founder, British poet and playwright, Catharine Amy Dawson-Scott, I reminded everyone that despite our cultural and political differences, we all believe in freedom of expression, peace, and friendship. Writing makes all this possible.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll keep on posting and blogging, but there\u2019s nothing like sitting at the keyboard for hours, lost in a creative reverie (yes, sometimes it\u2019s a nightmare), plugging away at my book. I love to write &#8211; sometimes even with a pen!<\/p>\n<p>To Mrs. Jeon and Mr. Sohn, thank you for your friendship and support. Keep up the good work and keep writing.<br \/>\nCarpe Diem.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/nedforney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/PEN-Mrs.-Jeon-and-Mr.-Sohn.jpeg\" alt=\"Mrs. Jeon and Mr. Sohn\" itemprop=\"image\" height=\"578\" width=\"480\"  \/><br \/>\n\t\tMrs. Jeon and Mr. Sohn<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/nedforney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/PEN-Korea-PENs-latest-collection-of-poems-essays-and-fiction-World-PEN-Friends-Together.jpeg\" alt=\"Korea PEN\u2019s latest collection of poems, essays, and fiction, \u201cWorld PEN, Friends Together\u201d\" itemprop=\"image\" height=\"640\" width=\"437\"  \/><br \/>\n\t\tKorea PEN\u2019s latest collection of poems, essays, and fiction, \u201cWorld PEN, Friends Together\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Top picture: Ned with PEN friends<\/p>\n<p>Photos courtesy of Ned Forney<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NedForney\/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel\" target=\"_blank\" role=\"button\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFollow Ned on Facebook<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ve all heard the old adage, \u201cThe pen is mightier than the sword.\u201d Today, however, it seems a bit outdated. With instantaneous news feeds and social media tweets, posts, and shares bombarding us 24\/7, the pen seems to have gone the way of the telegram, processed film, and the 8-track. \u201cNo one writes anymore,\u201d people&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[114,117,115,112,116,113,6],"class_list":["post-832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-korea","tag-essayists","tag-korea-writers-association","tag-novelists","tag-pen-international","tag-pen-korea","tag-poets","tag-seoul"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6.1 (Yoast SEO v28.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Power of the PEN - nedforney.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/nedforney.com\/index.php\/2017\/08\/16\/the-power-of-the-pen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Power of the PEN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We\u2019ve all heard the old adage, \u201cThe pen is mightier than the sword.\u201d Today, however, it seems a bit outdated. 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