Faber to sponsor annual PEN Pinter Prize for three years

Faber has been announced by English PEN as a new partner and sponsor of the PEN Pinter Prize, and the publisher will support the annual award over the next three years.

Now in its 16th year, the PEN Pinter Prize celebrates "courage in literature" and recognises the "powerful intersection between art and human rights". It was established in memory of Nobel-Laureate playwright Harold Pinter, who was vice-president of English PEN.

The prize is awarded to a writer resident in the UK, Ireland, Commonwealth or former Commonwealth who, in the words of Pinter’s Nobel speech, casts an "unflinching, unswerving" gaze upon the world and demonstrates a "fierce intellectual determination ... to define the real truth of our lives and our societies". 

The prize is shared with a Writer of Courage who has been persecuted for speaking out about their beliefs, selected by the winner in collaboration with English PEN’s Writers at Risk Programme. 

Daniel Gorman, director of English PEN, said: “We are thrilled to embark on this partnership with Faber and deeply grateful for their support. This collaboration between our two longstanding organisations offers a meaningful opportunity to draw from our rich literary heritage and, together, address the urgent need to defend freedom of expression in literature worldwide.”

Mary Cannam, chief executive of Faber, added: “Faber is proud to support the PEN Pinter Prize. We have treasured our association with the prize since it began, in memory of Nobel-Laureate and Faber playwright Harold Pinter. We value the support it offers to truth-seeking writers around the world. The PEN Pinter Prize and the Writer of Courage awards play a vital role in highlighting writers’ oppression and persecution; and we look forward to working more closely with PEN towards that purpose."

The winner of the 2024 PEN Pinter Prize will be announced in late June, while the Writer of Courage will be unveiled at a ceremony at the British Library on 10th October.