Poet and playwright Lemn Sissay wins PEN Pinter Prize 2019

Lizzie Thomson3 June 2019

The first poet commissioned to write for the London 2012 Olympics has won the PEN Pinter Prize, an award set up in memory of playwright Harold Pinter.

Lancashire-born Lemn Sissay, 52, will receive his prize at a ceremony at the British Library on October 10.

The award is given to outstanding UK writers worthy of literary merit who, in the words of Pinter, take an "unflinching, unswerving" look at the world.

Sissay, also an author and broadcaster, grew up in care and has often spoken about how he was bullied and abused by staff.

In 2010, he was awarded an MBE for his services to literature and is now chancellor of the University of Manchester.

Sissay said: “I met Harold Pinter when I was 36. We were on stage at the Royal Court. I was too intimidated or self-conscious to speak to him. And so I will now: ‘Thank you’.

“What I like about this award is that it is from a great writer and a great organisation. I accept it as a sign that I should continue.”

This year’s judging panel included author Niven Govinden, the Economist's culture correspondent Fiammetta Rocco, and chair of charity English PEN, Maureen Freely. Speaking of the win, Freely said: "In his every work, Lemn Sissay returns to the underworld he inhabited as an unclaimed child. From his sorrows, he forges beautiful words and a thousand reasons to live and love.”

The PEN Pinter Prize, which was established in 2009 by English PEN, celebrates literature and the freedom of expression.

Former winners include Margaret Atwood, Dame Carol Ann Duffy, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sir Tom Stoppard and Sir Salman Rushdie.

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