Michael Rosen receives the 2023 PEN Pinter Prize

Prolific author Michael Rosen, who has released works for all ages throughout his career, has been named the winner of the 2023 PEN Pinter Prize.

The award goes to writers based in the UK, Ireland, or the Commonwealth who take an “unflinching, unswerving” look at the world, which Rosen has done with his works about the loss of a child (Carrying the Elephant), the Holocaust (The Missing), and his personal battle with COVID-19 (Many Different Kinds of Love).

(You may, however, recognize him more from lighter fare like We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.)

Receiving the honor made him think of "the many people all over the world incarcerated, tortured or executed for being brave enough to write about what they perceive to be injustice," according to the BBC.

Each year, the PEN Pinter winner chooses, from a shortlist, the International Writer of Courage; both that writer and Rosen will be publicly honored at a ceremony on October 11.

Related posts 

• Expanding poetry’s audience 

• Read an excerpt from Many Different Kinds of Love