London: Famous Indian author and activist Suzanna Arundhati Roy has been awarded this year’s PEN Pinter Prize. Established in memory of playwright Harold Pinter, the award honours writers of “outstanding literary merit” who provide an “unflinching” look at the world.
Arundhati Roy is best known for her novel “The God of Small Things,” which won the Booker Prize in 1997. Roy has written extensively on human rights issues in India, as well as war and capitalism globally.
English PEN chair 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 added.
Roy, 62, an outspoken writer and activist who could face prosecution by the government for her 2010 comments on Kashmir, a controversial topic in India. She is a polarizing figure often targeted by right-wing groups for her speeches and writings.
The award announcement comes just weeks after Indian officials approved to take action against Roy under anti-terror laws for the comments she made 14 years ago.
On winning the prize, Roy remarked that, “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 will receive the PEN Pinter Prize on October 10 in a ceremony co-hosted by the British Library. The prize was established in 2009 by English PEN, a charity that defends freedom of expression and celebrates literature. Previous winners include Michael Rosen, Malorie Blackman, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Tom Stoppard, and Carol Ann Duffy.
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