British playwright Harold Pinter, a master of sparse dialogue and menacing silences who has been an outspoken critic of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, was the surprise winner of the Nobel literature prize on Thursday.
The 75-year-old Londoner, son of a Jewish dressmaker, is one of Britain’s best-known dramatists for plays like “The Birthday Party” and “The Caretaker”, whose mundane dialogue with sinister undercurrents gave rise to the adjective “Pinteresque”.
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An intimidating presence with bushy eyebrows and a rich voice, he was described by Swedish Academy head Horace Engdahl, who announced the prize, as “the towering figure” in English drama in the second half of the 20th century.
Pinter told Reuters Television he was “overwhelmed” by the news: “I haven’t had time to think about it but I am very, very moved. It was something I did not expect at all at any time.”