Ex Tempore (journal)

"Ex Tempore" is a literary journal published annually by the United Nations Society of Writers (UNSW) Societé des écrivains des Nations Unies (SENU) in Geneva. ISSN 1020-6604 (OCLC|34360356).

The Society of Writers was founded on 14 August 1989 by Sergio Chaves (Argentina), Leonor Sampaio (Brazil) and Alfred de Zayas (USA).

As the name "Ex Tempore" suggests, staff contributions should be crisp, impromptu, and as far away as possible from the stale UN jargon of declarations, resolutions and reports.

18 issues have been published since 1990. Volume XVIII (December 2007, http://www.unspecial.org/UNS672/t32.html) comprises 164 pages with contributions in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish -- essays, short stories, aphorisms, poetry and drama.

After 15 years as president of the UN Society of Writers, Alfred de Zayas retired from the presidency, on 15 December 2005, remaining as editor of the journal. Following the 2008 general Assembly of the UN Society of Writers, the journal's officers are:
*President: Karin Kaminker
*Vice-President: Carla Edelenbos
*Secretary: Rose Buisson-Sauvage
*Treasurer: Janet Weiler
*Editor-in-chief: Alfred de Zayas

Membership in the UN Society of Writers is open to active and retired staff of the United Nations, specialized agencies, CERN, Permanent Missions and Observer Missions, inter-governmental organisations, NGOs and the press corps. There are about 100 members currently in UNSW.

Reviews of the journal have appeared in "La Tribune de Genève", "Le Courrier de Genève", "Le Journal de Genève", "UN Special" and "DIVA International".

The Journal has reserved a domain www.extempore.ch, which is currently under construction. Inquiries can be addressed to [e-mail].

2008 is the International Year of Languages, and Ex Tempore 19 has languages as its main theme.