Arundhati Roy, the acclaimed author, has been awarded the prestigious PEN Pinter Prize for her “unflinching, unswerving” perspective and her “fierce intellectual determination … to uncover the real truth of our lives and societies.”
This recognition comes just weeks after Delhi’s lieutenant governor approved her prosecution under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for remarks she made at a 2010 conference on Kashmir.
Expressing her gratitude, Roy stated, “I am delighted to accept the PEN Pinter Prize. I wish Harold Pinter were here 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.”
Previous recipients of the PEN Pinter Prize include literary giants like Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Tom Stoppard, and Carol Ann Duffy.
In response to Roy’s prosecution, an open letter was published last week, urging the Indian government to drop charges against her and Kashmiri scholar Sheikh Showkat.
The letter has garnered support from numerous farm and labor unions, as well as academics and activists. Protests supporting Roy and Showkat have also taken place in Bangalore and Delhi.