Organisation > HISTORY

Since it was set up in 1982 the EIE-Basque Writers' Association has seen four different periods:

1982-1990: Legalisation and Consolidation.

The main aim of the EIE-Basque Writers' Association during these initial eight years was to consolidate the Association's foundations and objective, and to set up the projects to achieve this objective. They were:

• To submit the Basque Book Bill to the Government of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country
• To establish the bases for defending authors' rights, and to provide legal advice.

In addition to these two major aims, work was undertaken in two main areas, bearing in mind the situation of Euskara, the Basque language, at that time and the fact that Basque literature was the literature of a minority language:

• To learn about the circumstances of the literature of countries with minority languages and to share experiences.
• Galeusca: to foster contacts between Galician, Catalan and Basque authors.

1990-1996: Literary Corpus.

In this second period the EIE-Basque Writers' Association focussed on "literature". In this respect, the most noteworthy projects carried out were as follows:

• The publication of the Hegats literary journal
• The Congress on 20th Century Literature
• The Catalogue of Basque Authors
• The Poetry Festival

In addition to these initiatives the EIE-Basque Writers' Association paid particular attention to the following issues:

• Training for the association's members: a scriptwriting seminar was organised.
• Literary awards began to be monitored and arrangements were made for an EIE-Basque Writers' Association representative to be present at these awards.
• The 'Writers in Schools' programme was launched.

1996-2001: Making itself known in Society.

The EIE-Basque Writers' Association worked in three main areas during this period to make itself known in society:

• Development of a project to spread literature in society: the most significant being the 'Writers in Schools' and the 'Talking to Writers' programmes.
• Expansion of the EIE-Basque Writers' Association projects throughout the Basque Country: including the Northern Basque Country (under French administration) and Navarre.
• Forging of contacts with cultural associations and institutions. With the former to publicise the aims of the EIE-Basque Writers' Association's and the process to introduce it into society. With the latter to enter into agreements in order to achieve the aforementioned aims.

2001-2004: The new era for the EIE-Basque Writers' Association: Strategic Planning.

In view of the current size of the EIE-Basque Writers' Association membership (325) on the one hand, and bearing in mind the influence that could be exerted in the cultural activity of the Basque Country by the projects being set up, on the other, a Strategic Plan was drawn up to guide and direct the EIE- Basque Writers' Association's activities during the coming years.