David Marr wins PEN award

Journalist and author David Marr was presented with the 2009 PEN Keneally Award on July 22 at a function in Martin Place. He is the third recipient of the award, after Joesoef Isak and Frank Moorehouse AM.

Sydney PEN is an affiliate of International PEN, an association of writers founded in 1921 devoted to promoting freedom of expression and intellectual co-operation. The Keneally Award, named after Tom Keneally AO for “his lifetime commitment to the values of PEN”, is given in recognition of an outstanding achievement in promoting freedom of expression, international understanding and access to literature, as outlined in the charter of International PEN.

“David Marr is a writer that we’ve all admired for a long time and whom Sydney PEN chose, I believe of their own volition, but with my great delight,” Keneally said. “His book on [Chief Justice Sir Garfield] Barwick; The Ivanov Trail; even The High Price Of Heaven, all mark him as a fine writer and a great citizen.”

In his acceptance speech, Marr referred to his journalistic role as that of, “look[ing] at the anomalies, to investigate the politics behind them and ask what they say about this country.”

Outgoing Treasurer of Sydney PEN, John Beale, said Marr was a very deserving recipient of the award. “I just think one of our objectives is freedom of speech and freedom to write, so it’s really good to nominate an Australian writer who stands out from the crowd – does these things without fear or favour,” he said.

On the subject of PEN, Marr was effusive. “I think it’s wonderful, the work they do in looking after their own – keeping an eye on those imprisoned, the persecuted, and dramatising it by selecting individuals and letting Australians know about them,” he said.