A century ago, Catherine Amy Dawson Scott initiated a gathering where aspiring writers could network with established authors. The gatherings resulted in a network called the “Tomorrow Club”. The Tomorrow Club network became the building block of what was later recoined and founded as PEN International.

A 100 years later, PEN International and PEN centers around the world are taking structural steps in order to ensure equity and representation of young writers and voices, most recently establishing the Young Writers Committee. PEN Norway, PEN International and other PEN-centers have rekindled the Tomorrow Club network to spotlight and amplify young writivists and storytellers under 35 from around the world within and beyond the PEN network. Tomorrow Club will be a supportive network for and by diverse young voices community leaders, to inspire and exchange with each other, creating a communal space to connect over shared issues and feelings, catalyzing solidarity in action.

There is common pride to find in the word youth regardless of ideologies. Though it paints a massively diverse group in a single brush, that may be what is needed now, to get closer together given the scale of challenges faced. Our differences matter, but a livable future is at the verge of disintegration. Creating spaces to bring younger people together across political, economic and cultural divides is paramount as we face increasingly shared issues from climate breakdown to shrinking space for free expression and communication, from armed conflicts, polarization, mental health issues and to wealth inequality.

We want Tomorrow Club to be a creative space for young people to connect across ideological and geographical borders, over shared emotional states in reaction to “the state of the world”. A space to channel our anger disappointment and sorrow into creating a supportive community, exchanging stories, strategies and useful remedies. We want to empathize over the local and global conditions we find ourselves in, which are intrinsically tied, and to explore ways to cope against the issues and limitations we’re faced with as the youth.

Global Context For the Youth

Never before has there been so many armed conflicts across the globe since World War II. In addition, the past three years were the most violent in the last three decades, according to new conflict trend analysis. We live in a time of polarization, conspiracy theories and radicalisation. We are witnessing war crimes and mass murders while international institutions have been paralyzed in the complexities and hypocrisies of “The World Order”. In the past decade there has been a steady increase in the involvement of young people, both as perpetrators and victims, in conflict. For children that leaves more than one in six living in a conflict zone. We, the young, are inheriting a world where the cohesion of civilization is being torn apart. In order to find reconciliation and hope for a better future, we must amplify voices of peace and conscience to propel solidarity and advance spaces of belonging. We should listen to young voices that pave innovative paths in their communities to bring people together and strive for positive change on issues increasingly shared across countries.

The technological tools that connect us also drive us apart. Loneliness has been declared a ´global public health concern´ in the age globalization. Headlines highlight tragedies and divisive rhetoric, coupled with misinformation, fueling fear and anger every time we log on. Doomscrolling has become a term to describe the excessive amount of screen time devoted to consuming news. The disintegration of trust, a bedrock of democratic societies is propelled by polarizing parallel realities governed and influenced by private media networks with capital interests and state-owned narratives. Moreover, there are proof of states that undermine open and free elections by invoking internet shutdowns and network disruptions before, during and following electoral periods. Algorithms and AI promote echo chambers as "angry people click more". We claim to live in a connected world but many of us feel disconnected. We know little of how our peers near us with opposing views or life experiences let alone those in other parts of the world. Being stuck in closed chambers of narrow opinions and ideologies is dangerous and drives us away from universal values. Our blinkered perspectives feed a sense of disillusionment and apathy or compassion fatigue, leading to isolation in a hyper-individualist society.

We Must Counteract This Trend by creating spaces to connect, learn from and support each other beyond ideological and geographical boundaries. Through the Tomorrow Club network, we can provide exactly that, a network to exchange stories about our common challenges, conditions and feelings, to listen, be heard and be inspired by one another and seek ways forward together. Hopefully then we can come to recognize the shared nature of our various problems and fortify trust, building bridges and solidarity across borders.

Climate crisis is causing our generation to get angry, hopeless or anxious due to the bleak future of our planet, as reported that “Humanity in on the verge of shattering Earth’s natural limits”. Global issues are taking a major toll on young people's mental health. Wealth and intergenerational inequality show us that the world is not poor, it is unjust. But the enormity of these challenges can signal a breaking point for younger generations to get closer together towards a sustainable future. We, like our planet, are getting sicker by the day and built-up frustration and overwhelmed emotions need outlets to be peacefully expressed and shared as an antidote to loneliness, depression and divisive radicalization.

PEN has shown that it can form communities around those who stand up for the right to peaceful expression in the quest to safeguard our common human rights.

With the ambition of rekindling the Tomorrow Club network we hope to encourage collective action by forming bridges of solidarity and spaces where the voices of the future can share stories, experiences, knowledge and strategies on how they cope with the challenges of the world. Consequently, this is only possible through the collaboration between several PEN initiatives and working with the Young Writers Committee, amplifying the messages young voices across the world are carrying.

This collaborative issue between Tomorrow Club and PEN/OPP is a demonstration. We thank PEN/OPP for welcoming us to their platform. In this series you will meet ten young voices from different countries and hear how they address their experience in idiosyncratic ways. From voices experiencing exile and prosecution to voices who personify solidarity in action in creative ways. Let us hear from the brave new voices of today and Tomorrow.