In 2005, Harold Pinter was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the highest honour available to any writer in the world. In announcing the award, Horace Engdahl, Chairman of the Swedish Academy, said that Pinter was an artist “who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression’s closed rooms”.

In 2002, Pinter was made a Companion of Honour by the Queen for services to Literature.


In 1958 Harold Pinter wrote the following:

"There are no hard distinctions between what is real and what is unreal, nor between what is true and what is false. A thing is not necessarily either true or false; it can be both true and false."

I believe that these assertions still make sense and do still apply to the exploration of reality through art. So as a writer I stand by them but as a citizen I cannot. As a citizen I must ask: What is true? What is false?
 
Harold Pinter's Nobel Lecture was pre-recorded, and shown on video December 7, 2005, in Börssalen at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm.

Harold Pinter has been awarded the Wilfred Owen prize for poetry opposing the Iraq Conflict. Acceptance Speech

Along a similar theme he recently took part in a debate at the Imperial War Museum for 'Authors Take Sides On Iraq' and his latest piece of poetry The ‘Special Relationship' has been published in The Guardian. 
   
Born 10 October 1930 in East London, playwright, director, actor, poet and political activist. He died 24 December 2008.
 
He wrote twenty-nine plays including The Birthday Party, The Caretaker, The Homecoming, and Betrayal, twenty-one screenplays including The Servant, The Go-Between and The French Lieutenant's Woman, and directed twenty-seven theatre productions, including James Joyce's Exiles, David Mamet's Oleanna, seven plays by Simon Gray and many of his own plays including his latest, Celebration, paired with his first, The Room at The Almeida Theatre, London in the spring of 2000.
 
He was awarded the Shakespeare Prize (Hamburg), the European Prize for Literature (Vienna), the Pirandello Prize (Palermo), the David Cohen British Literature Prize, the Laurence Olivier Award, the Legion d’Honneur and the Moliere D'Honneur for lifetime achievement. In 1999 he was made a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature. He received honorary degrees from eighteen universities.
 
Pinter's interest in politics was a very public one. Over the years he spoke out forcefully about the abuse of state power around the world, including, recently, NATO's bombing of Serbia. His most recent speech was given on the anniversary of NATO'S bombing of Serbia at the Committee for Peace in the Balkans Conference, at The Conway Hall June 10th 2000.
 
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News   Additions:
The Caretaker wins ACE award Today Prog. Interview 18 th March 05
Old Times, Athens Pinter Review 03/04
Betrayal Czech Republic 2014 Pinter Interview – BBC Hardtalk (2004)
The Observer Evening Standard Award (Dec 2004)
Letter to the Independent Old Masters (July 2004)
Downloads:    
BBC Clips Against the War 19.9 mb
Front Row Interview 28th Feb 2005 Gaieties 70th Anniversary 47.9mb
Something Extra
Pinter's interview (Guardian Unlimited)
Noam Chomsky Introduction (Dec 2002)
Hyde Park Speech (Feb 2003)
Visit Theatre History
The Pinter Review
Antonia Fraser presents 'No Man's Homecoming' Click here to see
Visit the Amnesty website www.amnesty.org/stoptorture
News and Events for the year 2014

Julian Sands discusses 'A Celebration of Harold Pinter' on the Charlie Rose show, which he is currently performing at the Irish Rep Theatre in New York.

Julian Sands stars in ‘A Celebration of Harold Pinter'. Directed by John Malkovich. Theater Review: The New York Times

Listen to the reading of Harold Pinter’s poem, Dear Joe, read by Julian Sands at the unveiling of the plaque in Hackney.

Lady Antonia Fraser Pinter unveiled a plaque on the 22nd September 2012 to mark the Clapton birthplace of Harold Pinter.

"WORKING WITH PINTER" Described by The Observer as 'An outstanding documentary', Harry Burton's intimate film portrait of Harold Pinter is now available on DVD from Illuminations Media and also Amazon

This 2005 portrait by Joe Hill of Harold Pinter is being auctioned to raise money for the cricket charity The Lords Taverners. An anonymous bidder has opened the bidding at £4,000. The painting was a gift to Pinter from his team mates at Gaieties Cricket Club as a mark of their esteem and gratitude for Pinter's 40 years service to the club.

On September 27th 2009 there will be a cricket match on the Nursery at Lords between Gaieties CC and a Mike Brearley Taverners XI. After the cricket match there will be a concert of words and music in the Long Room in the Lords paviliion to celebrate Harold Pinter's love of cricket. Among those invited to take part are Judi Dench, Michael Gambon, Bill Nighy, Janie Dee, Sam West, Roger Lloyd Pack.

The winning bid in the painting auction will be announced at the concert. The proceeds will go towards the Lords Taverners good causes and projects. The Lord's Taverners mission is to "Give young people, particularly those with special needs, a sporting chance"

Anyone can bid for the painting by emailing their contact details and bid to pinter@lordstaverners.org or phoning 020 7821 2828 More information

On May 2nd The City University of New York and PEN are celebrating Harold Pinter's life and work with a day of screenings, discussions and performances, programmed by Harry Burton. Among those taking part: Henry Woolf, Todd Haimes, John Guare, Jason Isaacs,Brían F. O'Byrne, Alastair Macaulay, Emily Mann, Paul Schrader, Susan Hollis Merritt, Charles Grimes.

The event is free, the venue:
Martin E. Segal Theatre Center The Graduate School and University Center
The City University of New York
365 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10016-4309
More Information

The Pinter Review 2003/4 was recently published. You can order from The University of Tampa Press, The University of Tampa, Tampa , Florida 33606 USA . $30 (h) $15 (s) + $5 p+p

                         
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Harold Pinter's work is represented by Judy Daish Associates Limited - and applications for all performances and uses of Harold Pinter's work (including amateur and professional stage performances, radio broadcasts, television transmissions and readings and use of extracts) need to be addressed to them in the first instance and in advance of finalizing your plans. Judy Daish Associates will then contact the Estate of Harold Pinter (Lady Antonia Fraser Pinter) if appropriate. The Estate should not be contacted directly for permissions. Please do not assume that a licence or permission will be forthcoming as there are sometimes conflicts between permission requests.
 
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