New Delhi, June 27: Renowned author Arundhati Roy has been honored with the PEN Pinter Prize 2024. The prestigious award, established in 2009 by English PEN in memory of Nobel laureate playwright Harold Pinter, recognizes a writer of outstanding literary merit from the UK, the Republic of Ireland, or the Commonwealth.
Roy will receive the award at a ceremony co-hosted by the British Library on October 10, where she will also deliver an address.
The PEN Pinter Prize is given to a writer who, in Pinter’s Nobel Prize speech, “casts an unflinching, unswerving gaze upon the world and shows a fierce intellectual determination to define the real truth of our lives and our societies.” This year’s jury included English PEN chair Ruth Borthwick, actor Khalid Abdalla, and writer Roger Robinson.
Ruth Borthwick praised Roy for her ability to tell 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,” Borthwick remarked.
Khalid Abdalla lauded Roy as a luminous voice of freedom and justice, whose words have provided clarity and determination for nearly thirty years.
“Her books, her writings, the spirit with which her life is lived, have been a lodestar through the many crises and the darkness our world has faced since her first book, ‘The God of Small Things’,” Abdalla said.
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Roger Robinson highlighted Roy’s incisive commentary on issues ranging from environmental degradation to human rights abuses, demonstrating her commitment to advocating for the marginalized and challenging the status quo.
Expressing her delight at receiving the prize, Roy said, “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.”
ALSO READ: Delhi LG Approves Prosecution of Arundhati Roy Under UAPA for Alleged Provocative Speech
Recently, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena approved the prosecution of Roy and former Central University of Kashmir professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for allegedly making provocative speeches at a 2010 conference.
The PEN Pinter Prize adds to a distinguished list of previous winners, including Michael Rosen, Margaret Atwood, Malorie Blackman, Tom Stoppard, and Carol Ann Duffy.
