Stella Gaitano wins PEN English Pinter Prize for Writer of Courage 2025.

Stella Gaitano was declared the winner of the PEN English Pinter Prize for Writer of Courage 2025 in London, UK, on October 10, 2025.

The PEN Pinter Prize is awarded annually to a writer from Britain, the Republic of Ireland, or the Commonwealth who, in the words of Harold Pinter’s Nobel Prize-winning speech, casts an ‘unflinching, unswerving’ gaze upon the world, and shows a ‘fierce intellectual determination … to define the real truth of our lives and our societies’. Some of those who have won it since 2009 have been Alaa Abd el-Fattah, Malorie Blackman, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Lemn Sissay, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

On July 9, Leila Aboulela was announced the winner of the PEN Pinter Prize 2025 by a jury of Ruth Borthwick, Mona Arshi, and Nadifa Mohamed for her writing on migration, faith, and the lives of women. The author would choose the Writer of Courage at the PEN Pinter Award winner evening.

Earlier today, Stella Gaitano, the PEN English Pinter Prize for Writer of Courage 2025, was selected by Leila Aboulela.

Stella Gaitano said, “I just won the PEN English Pinter Prize for Writer of Courage 2025. Thank you @englishpen_ @leilaaboulela”