Rushdie is awardee for the British commendation.
By The American Bazaar Staff
LONDON: Renowned Indo-British writer Salman Rushdie has been announced as the recipient of the 2014 PEN Pinter Prize, one of the most prestigious honors in the literary world.
Created in memory of the late, great British writer Harold Pinter, the PEN Pinter Prize was established in 2009 to recognize excellence in writing by a British author and an international “writer of courage,” who creates a great work while in prison or under persecution in their home country.
Rushdie has been announced as the awardee for the British commendation, while the international writer who Rushdie will share the award with has not yet been announced. Rushdie will receive his award at a ceremony being held at the British Library, which is set to take place on October 9.
“This prize is English PEN’s way of thanking Salman Rushdie not just for his books and his many years of speaking out for freedom of expression, but also for his countless private acts of kindness,” Maureen Freely, chair of the judging committee, said in a statement announcing Rushdie’s selection. “When he sees writers unjustly vilified, prosecuted, or forced into exile, he takes a personal interest.”
In being named as a PEN Pinter Prize winner, Rushdie joins some of the most hugely admired names in modern British literature. Previous winners include noted playwright Tom Stoppard, who is perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning screenwriting work Shakespeare in Love, and David Hare, who has also done extensive work in both playwriting and screenwriting.
Rushdie has been a writer for several decades, and is best remembered for his work in the 1980s – namely, the 1981 novel Midnight’s Children, which won the Man Booker Prize, and the 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, which was the subject of intense criticism from the worldwide Muslim community and caused former Iranian leader Ayotollah Ruhollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa (religious kill order) against Rushdie.