Celebrated author Arundhati Roy has been named the recipient of the 2024 PEN Pinter Prize, an award presented by English PEN in memory of Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. The prize recognises writers of outstanding literary merit who embody Pinter’s spirit of examining the world with an “unflinching, unswerving” gaze. The award ceremony is scheduled for October 10, 2024, at the British Library, where Roy will deliver a keynote address.
“I am delighted to accept the PEN Pinter prize. I wish Harold Pinter were with us today to write about the almost incomprehensible turn the world is taking. Since he isn’t, some of us must do our utmost to try to fill his shoes.”
Arundhati Roy
Read: Indian authorities set to prosecute Arundhati Roy over Kashmir comments
Roy will share this year’s award with a yet-to-be-announced Writer of Courage, a distinction given to a writer who, despite personal risk, has been an active defender of freedom of expression. This co-recipient, selected by Roy from cases supported by English PEN, will be revealed during the ceremony.
The selection of Roy as this year’s laureate was announced in April by a panel comprising Ruth Borthwick, Chair of English PEN, actor and activist Khalid Abdalla, and writer and musician Roger Robinson.
Ruth Borthwick praised Roy, stating, “Our congratulations to Arundhati Roy on winning the PEN Pinter Prize 2024. Roy tells urgent stories of injustice with wit and beauty. While India remains an important focus, she is truly an internationalist thinker, and her powerful voice is not to be silenced.”
Khalid Abdalla reiterated Roy’s enduring voice in the realm of social justice, commenting, “Arundhati Roy is a luminous voice of freedom and justice whose words have come with fierce clarity and determination for almost thirty years now… This year, as the world faces the deep histories that have created this moment in Gaza, our need for writers who are ‘unflinching and unswerving’ has been immense.”
Roger Robinson remarked on the unanimity of the choice and Roy’s major contributions to literature and social justice. “Her vast body of work, encompassing both fiction and non-fiction, has not only captivated readers worldwide but also consistently focused on themes of social justice,” he said.
Read: Michael Rosen unveils Uyghur scholar Rahile Dawut as PEN’s Writer of Courage
Upon receiving the honour, Roy expressed her gratitude and a poignant wish: “I am delighted to accept the PEN Pinter prize. I wish Harold Pinter were with us today to write about the almost incomprehensible turn the world is taking. Since he isn’t, some of us must do our utmost to try to fill his shoes.”
The PEN Pinter Prize was established in 2009 by the charity English PEN to commemorate the values and literary contributions of Harold Pinter. It is awarded annually to a writer from the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, or the Commonwealth who demonstrates both literary excellence and the courage to confront the truth of our lives and societies.
Image credit: jeanbaptisteparis
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