New Delhi: Indian author Arundhati Roy has said that she is “delighted” to have been awarded this year’s PEN Pinter Prize.
Set up in memory of playwright Harold Pinter, the award is for writers of “outstanding literary merit” who take an “unflinching” look at the world.
The announcement comes weeks after officials in India approved action against Roy under anti-terror laws for comments she made 14 years ago.
Roy is a Booker Prize-winning author and has written about human rights issues in India as well as war and capitalism globally.
She will receive the PEN Pinter Prize on 10 October in a ceremony co-hosted by the British Library.
The prize was set up in 2009 by English PEN, a charity that says it defends freedom of expression and celebrates literature.
Previous winners include Michael Rosen, Malorie Blackman, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Tom Stoppard and Carol Ann Duffy.
