Arundhati Roy wins 2024 PEN Pinter Prize for being ‘luminous voice of freedom, justice’

“I am delighted to accept the PEN Pinter prize,” said Roy. “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.” She was chosen as the 2024 PEN Pinter Prize winner in April 2024 by this year’s judges: Chair of English PEN, Ruth Borthwick; actor and activist Khalid Abdalla; and writer and musician Roger Robinson. After Saxena’s sanction, on June 14, to prosecute Roy over her comment that the disputed region of Kashmir had never been an “integral” part of India, more than 200 Indian academics, activists and journalists have signed an open letter calling on the government to withdraw the decision.

‘She tells urgent stories of injustice with wit and beauty’

Roy, who won the Booker prize in 1997 for her lyrical debut novel, The God of Small Things, will share the prize with a Writer of Courage: ‘a writer who is active in defence of freedom of expression, often at great risk to their own safety and liberty.’ The co-winner, selected by Roy from a shortlist of cases supported by English PEN, will be announced at the event on October 10. Congratulating Roy, Ruth Borthwick said: “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 commented: “Roy is a luminous voice of freedom and justice whose words have come with fierce clarity and determination for almost thirty years now. 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. 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. In honouring Arundhati Roy this year, we are celebrating both the dignity of her body of work and the timeliness of her words, that arrive with the depth of her craft exactly when we need them most.”

‘A deserving recipient’

Roger Robinson added: “Roy was the unanimous choice for this prestigious award, a testament to her unparalleled contribution to literature. 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. Roy’s incisive commentary on issues ranging from environmental degradation to human rights abuses demonstrates her commitment to advocating for the marginalized and challenging the status quo. Her unique voice and unwavering dedication to these causes make her a deserving recipient of this honour.”

Roy published her second novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, in 2017. Her nonfiction books include Capitalism: A Ghost Story and The Algebra of Infinite Justice. Previous winners of the PEN Pinter prize include Malorie Blackman, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie. In 2023, Michael Rosen received the award for what judges described as a “fearless” body of work that provides a “lesson in humanity”. The PEN Pinter Prize was established in 2009 by the charity English PEN, which defends freedom of expression and celebrates literature, in memory of the Nobel-Laureate playwright. The prize is awarded annually to a writer of outstanding literary merit resident in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland or the Commonwealth. The PEN Pinter Prize is supported by the generosity of Faber and Ruth Maxted.