British playwright Harold Pinter has won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
British playwright Harold Pinter, whose sparse style and use of silences has given rise to the adjective "Pinteresque", was the surprise winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2005 on Thursday.
The 75-year-old Londoner, son of a Jewish dressmaker, is one of Britain's best-known writers for works such as "The Birthday Party" and "The Caretaker". But critics said he was an unexpected pick for the 10 million crown prize.
Pinter "uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms", said the Swedish Academy. Its head Horace Engdahl called him "the towering figure" in English drama in the second half of the 20th century.
An accomplished actor and director, Pinter is also known for screenplays for film and television, such as the 1981 movie "The French Lieutenant's Woman", based on John Fowles' novel.
An outspoken voice on politics and human rights, Pinter was described by one biographer as "a permanent public nuisance, a questioner of accepted truths, both in life and art".
Pinter's selection was a surprise to just about everyone. It is quite rare for an English-speaking playwright to win a Nobel: Samuel Beckett and Eugene O'Neill were also winners. Pinter was treated for throat cancer earlier this year, and has hinted that he has written his last play, preferring to focus on poetry and human rights activism.
