Pinter International Writer Of Courage Award
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The PEN Pinter Prize and the Pinter International Writer of Courage Award both comprise an annual
literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded Literature, literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award c ...
launched in 2009 by
English PEN Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associa ...
in honour of the late Nobel Literature Prize-winning playwright
Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...
, who had been a Vice President of English PEN and an active member of the .International PEN Writers in Committee (WiPC). The award is given to "a British writer or a writer resident in Britain of outstanding literary merit who, in the words of Pinter’s Nobel speech Art, Truth and Politics' 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'." The Prize is shared with an "International Writer of Courage," defined as "someone who has been persecuted for speaking out about is or herbeliefs," selected by English PEN's Writers at Risk Committee in consultation with the annual Prize winner, and announced during an award ceremony held at the
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
, on or around 10 October, the anniversary of Pinter's birth. The PEN Pinter Prize is one of the many PEN literary awards sponsored by
PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide professional association, association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association ...
affiliates in "more than 200" PEN International Centers located around the world.


Recipients


2009

* PEN Pinter Prize:
Tony Harrison Tony Harrison (born 30 April 1937) is an English poet, translator and playwright. He was born in Beeston, Leeds and he received his education in Classics from Leeds Grammar School and Leeds University. He is one of Britain's foremost verse ...
, poet and playwright * International Writer of Courage Award: Zarganar (Maung Thura), Burmese artist


2010

* PEN Pinter Prize:
Hanif Kureishi Hanif Kureishi (born 5 December 1954) is a British Pakistani playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, and novelist. He is known for his film '' My Beautiful Laundrette'' and novel '' The Buddha of Suburbia''. Early life and education Hanif Kureish ...
* International Writer of Courage Award:
Lydia Cacho Lydia María Cacho Ribeiro (born 12 April 1963) is a Mexican journalist, feminist, and human rights activist. Described by Amnesty International as "perhaps Mexico's most famous investigative journalist and women's rights advocate", Cacho's repo ...
, Mexican journalist and human rights activist


2011

*PEN Pinter Prize: David Hare, playwright *International Writer of Courage Award:
Roberto Saviano Roberto Saviano (; born 22 September 1979) is an Italian writer, journalist, and screenwriter. In his writings, including articles and his book ''Gomorrah (book), Gomorrah'', he uses literature and investigative reporting to tell of the economic ...
, Italian writer and journalist


2012

*PEN Pinter Prize:
Carol Ann Duffy Dame Carol Ann Duffy (born 23 December 1955) is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, and her term expired in 2019. She wa ...
, poet *International Writer of Courage Award:
Samar Yazbek Samar Yazbek (, born 1970 in Jableh, Syria) is a Syrian writer and journalist. She studied Arabic literature at Tishreen University (Latakia). She has written in a wide variety of genres including novels, short stories, film scripts, television d ...
, Syrian writer


2013

*PEN Pinter Prize:
Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (; born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...
, playwright *International Writer of Courage Award:
Iryna Khalip Iryna Uladzimirawna Khalip (, ; born November 12, 1967) is a Belarusian journalist, reporter and editor in the Minsk bureau of ''Novaya Gazeta'', known for her criticism of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. For her journalistic activitie ...
, Belarusian journalist


2014

*PEN Pinter Prize:
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...
, novelist *International Writer of Courage Award:
Mazen Darwish Mazen Darwish () is a Syrian lawyer and free speech advocate. He is the president of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression. News organizations, including Reuters and the Associated Press, have described him as one of Syria's most ...
, Syrian lawyer and journalist


2015

*PEN Pinter Prize:
James Fenton James Martin Fenton (born 25 April 1949) is an English poet, journalist and literary critic. He is a former Oxford Professor of Poetry. Life and career Born in Lincoln, Fenton grew up in Lincolnshire and Staffordshire, the son of Canon Jo ...
*International Writer of Courage Award:
Raif Badawi Raif bin Muhammad Badawi (, also transcribed Raef bin Mohammed Badawi; born 13 January 1984) is a Saudi writer, dissident and activist, as well as the creator of the website ''Free Saudi Liberals''. Badawi was arrested in 2012 on a charge of ...
, Saudi activist


2016

*PEN Pinter Prize:
Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...
*International Writer of Courage Award:
Ahmedur Rashid Chowdhury Ahmedur Rashid Chowdhury (, also Tutul টুটুল) is a Bangladeshi publisher and writer. He won the 2016 Pinter International Writer of Courage Award, selected by writer Margaret Atwood, The Jeri Laber International Freedom to Publish Award ...
, Bangladeshi publisher


2017

*PEN Pinter Prize:
Michael Longley Michael George Longley (27 July 1939 – 22 January 2025) was a Northern Irish poet. In his later years Longley observed: "It's a mystery where poems come from. If I knew where poems came from I would go there ... When I write a poem I am movi ...
*International Writer of Courage Award: Mahvash Sabet, Iranian poet and teacher


2018

*PEN Pinter Prize:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (born Grace Ngozi Adichie; 15 September 1977) is a Nigerians, Nigerian writer of novels, short stories, poem, and children's books; she is also a book reviewer and literary critic. Her most famous works include ''Purple ...
*International Writer of Courage: Waleed Abulkhair, Saudi lawyer and human rights activist


2019

*PEN Pinter Prize:
Lemn Sissay Lemn Sissay FRSL (born 21 May 1967) is a British author and broadcaster. He was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, was chancellor of the University of Manchester from 2015 until 2022, and joined the Foundling Museum's board of trus ...
*International Writer of Courage Award: Befeqadu Hailu, Ethiopian writer and blogger


2020

* PEN Pinter Prize:
Linton Kwesi Johnson Linton Kwesi Johnson Order of Distinction, OD (born 24 August 1952), also known as LKJ, is a Jamaica-born, British-based dub poetry, dub poet and activist. In 2002, he became the second living poet, and the only black one, to be published in th ...
* International Writer of Courage Award: Amanuel Asrat, Eritrean poet


2021

* PEN Pinter Prize:
Tsitsi Dangarembga Tsitsi Dangarembga (born 4 February 1959) is a Zimbabwean novelist, playwright and filmmaker. Her debut novel, '' Nervous Conditions'' (1988), which was the first to be published in English by a Black woman from Zimbabwe, was named by the BBC in ...
* International Writer of Courage Award:
Kakwenza Rukirabashaija Kakwenza Rukirabashaija (born 1 October 1988) is a Ugandan novelist and lawyer. He is the author of ''The Greedy Barbarian'' and ''Banana Republic: Where Writing is Treasonous''. He was named winner of the English PEN 2021 Pinter International Wr ...
, Ugandan novelist


2022

* PEN Pinter Prize:
Malorie Blackman Oneta Malorie Blackman (born 8 February 1962) is a British writer who held the position of Children's Laureate from 2013 to 2015. She primarily writes literature and television drama for children and young adults. She has used science fiction ...
* International Writer of Courage Award:
Abduljalil al-Singace Abduljalil Abdulla al-Singace (, born January 15, 1962) is a Bahraini engineer, blogger, and human rights activist. He was arrested in 2009 and 2010 for his human rights activities and released later. In 2011, he was arrested, allegedly tortured ...


2023

* PEN Pinter Prize:
Michael Rosen Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946) is an English children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster, activist, and academic, who is a professor of children's literature in the Department of Educational Studies at Goldsmiths ...
* International Writer of Courage Award:
Rahile Dawut Rahile Dawut (; ; born May 20, 1966) is a Uyghur ethnographer known for her expertise in Uyghur folklore and traditions. Formerly a professor at Xinjiang University, where she founded the Minorities Folklore Research Centre, she was disappeared by ...
, Uyghur imprisoned academic


2024

* PEN Pinter Prize:
Arundhati Roy Suzanna Arundhati Roy (; born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. ...
* International Writer of Courage Award:
Alaa Abd El-Fattah Alaa Ahmed Seif al Islam Abd El-Fattah (, ), known professionally as Alaa Abd El-Fattah (), is an Egyptian-British blogger, software developer, and political activist. He has been active in developing Arabic-language versions of software and pl ...
, British-Egyptian writer and activist


See also

*
Prison literature Prison literature is the literary genre of works written by an author in unwilling confinement, such as a prison, jail or house arrest.Tony Perrottet. "Serving the Sentence", ''New York Times Book Review'', July 24, 2011. The writing can be about ...


References


External links


PEN Pinter Prize
English PEN Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associa ...
official webpage {{DEFAULTSORT:PEN Pinter Prize Awards established in 2009 2009 establishments in England English PEN awards Literary awards honouring human rights