An Ethiopian human rights blogger who has been jailed four times over his activism has been awarded a literary prize set up in memory of playwright Harold Pinter. Befeqadu Hailu was awarded the International Writer of Courage award at the PEN Pinter Prize ceremony at the British Library on Thursday night. He was handed the gong by this year’s winner of the PEN Pinter Prize, British poet and author Lemn Sissay. Poet Lemn Sissay (Anthony Devlin/PA)Hailu said: “I think freedom of writing or freedom of speech is an intermediary path between change and violence. Former winners of the PEN Pinter Prize include Half Of A Yellow Sun author Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, Margaret Atwood, Sir Salman Rushdie, Sir Tom Stoppard and Dame Carol Ann Duffy.

Source: Ethiopian News October 10, 2019 18:56 UTC