Chimamanda wins PEN award

Chimamanda

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has won the PEN Pinter Award. The PEN Pinter Prize is awarded annually to a writer from Britain, Ireland or The Commonwealth who takes an "unflinching, unsweving look at the world." 

“In this age of the privatised, marketised self, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the exception who defies the rule,” said Maureen Freely, chair of judges and trustees for English PEN. “Sophisticated beyond measure in her understanding of gender, race, and global inequality, she guides us through the revolving doors of identity politics, liberating us all.”

Harold Pinter. Nobel Prize-winning British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. (1947-2008)

Adichie received the award with enthusiasm. “I admired Harold Pinter’s talent, his courage, his lucid dedication to telling his truth, and I am honoured to be given an award in his name."

Adichie will receive the Prize on October 9, where she is also expected to announce her co-winner, who will receive the 2018 International Writer of Courage. The 2018 International Writer of Courage is meant for a writer “who is active in defence of freedom of expression, often at great riskk to their own safety and liberty.”