On 9 October 2018, English PEN was delighted to present the PEN Pinter Prize 2018 to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. At an event at the British Library, she accepted the prize from Lady Antonia Fraser, Harold Pinter’s widow, and delivered an address entitled Shut Up And Write in which she discussed her literary inspirations, what it means to be an ‘African writer’ and a feminist.

The event was introduced by Roly Keating, chief exectuive of the British Library, and Philippe Sands QC, president of English PEN. The encomium was delivered by Ellah Wakatama Allfrey OBE, and a dramatic reading from Half A Yellow Sun was performed by Rebekah Murrell.

Adichie also announced writer and lawyer Waleed Abulkhair, who is currently serving a 15 year prison sentence in Saudi Arabian for peaceful human rights activism, as the PEN Pinter International Writer of Courage 2018. The prize was accepted on Waleed’s behalf by Maureen Freely, chair of English PEN’s trustees.

Watch Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s PEN Pinter Prize speech on YouTube

Listen to the entire PEN Pinter Prize event on SoundCloud

View photographs from the PEN Pinter Prize event on Flickr

Photos: George Torode.