The Slovenian resort town of Bled, under the peaks of the Julian Alps, is no stranger to world-famous names from the worlds of politics, showbiz, and the arts. But one event is still remembered today, despite taking place more almost half a century ago.

In 1965, Bled hosted the World Congress of PEN International, the international writers’ organization. Founded after the ravages of World War I, PEN became famous not just for attempting to bring together writers, poets, and journalists from around the world, but also for its political activism. And during the height of the Cold War, politics were on everyone’s mind.

PEN’s Bled congress was the first one ever attended by Soviet writers, then still as observers. For the organizers, Soviet participation of any kind was an important coup. In a bitterly divided world, literary links between the East and West were rare, and the attendance of the Soviets was an important sign of improving inter-bloc relations. It also proved that having Yugoslavia host the congress was an inspired choice. Tito’s South Slav federation was a Communist country, but it was a part of the Non-Aligned movement and sufficiently open to the world to organize a truly international gathering. It was therefore no surprise that Yugoslavia was first Communist country to hold a PEN congress.

For Bled, it was an opportunity to showcase its status as an international resort by hosting some of the biggest names in post-war literature. Arthur Miller, the American playwright and Marilyn Monroe’s former husband, became an instant media celebrity as soon as he arrived in Bled. Slovenia, which always took literature and theater seriously, had never hosted such a prominent author. During the congress, Miller was elected to head PEN International for the next four-year term. He became the first American to head the organization.

Other attendees comprised a virtual who-is-who of the international literary scene. They included Ivo Andrić, Yugoslavia’s only Nobel Prize winner, as well as Pablo Neruda and Miguel Ángel Asturias, prominent Latin American writers who went on to win the Nobel Prize in the years following the congress.

The Bled congress was such a success that the Slovenian PEN decided to organize regular Bled Meetings – small-scale conferences involving leading literary figures. The high profile of the Slovenian PEN also paid off when Slovenia became independent, and members of the organization used their prestigious connections with PEN members abroad to lobby for support of the new state. And when the Bosnian war broke out, the Slovenian PEN was instrumental in organizing relief missions for Bosnian civilians.

In 2005, a second World PEN Congress was held in Bled. The world had changed dramatically since 1965; fewer celebrity authors came to visit, and geopolitical concerns were no longer an issue. Still, the congress was a success and a fitting 40th anniversary celebration of an event that first placed Slovenia at the center of the literary world for a few days in 1965.