Leila Aboulela wins PEN Pinter Prize 2025

We are so proud to share the news that Leila Aboulela has been awarded the PEN Pinter Prize 2025!

The announcement was made at the English PEN Summer Party on Wednesday 9th July at the October Gallery in London, where judges praised Aboulela for her “nuanced and rich perspectives on themes that are vital in our contemporary world: faith, migration and displacement”. They described her writing as “a balm, a shelter and an inspiration”.

Aboulela will recieve the award at a ceremony at the British Library on 10th October 2025, where she will deliver an address and announce her selected co-winner, a Writer of Courage who is active in defence of freedom of expression, often at risk to their own safety.

On the award, Aboulela says, “I am honoured to win a prize established in memory of Harold Pinter, a great writer who continues to inspire so much loyalty and consistent high regard. For someone like me, a Muslim Sudanese immigrant who writes from a religious perspective, probing the limits of secular tolerance, this recognition feels truly significant.”

One of this year’s judging panel, chair of English PEN Ruth Borthwick, said “Leila Aboulela’s writing is extraordinary in its range and sensibility. From jewel-like short stories to tender novels, she tells us rarely heard stories that make us think anew about who lives in our neighbourhoods and communities, and how they navigate their lives.”