Ali Abu Yasin Wins PEN 'Writer of Courage' Award — SkimNews
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- Ali Abu Yasin, 62, won English PEN's "Writer of Courage 2026" award at the British Library — his first in-person ceremony after leaving Gaza weeks ago for an artist residency in France
- Abu Yasin's recent play "50 Minutes" was performed in a makeshift tent in a Gaza car park, with actors who had no prior theatre experience
- The playwright began his career at the Said Al-Mishal Theatre in Gaza City, which was levelled in a 2018 Israeli bombing; leading figures called it the "obliteration of this symbol of Palestinian culture and identity"
- Abu Yasin told Al Jazeera that since 2023, Israel has killed more than 74,000 people in Gaza; he said he was near death four or five times and his son was once trapped under rubble
- He was nominated by British academic Jacqueline Rose, who won the 2026 PEN Pinter Prize and called his work "a call for justice, a cry of outrage and a spiritual quest"
- English PEN has joined PEN International in calling for an arms embargo on Israel, while PEN America faced a boycott and the resignation of its president in 2025
Why it matters: The award puts English PEN's institutional stance on record — the UK branch has backed an arms embargo on Israel while PEN America lost its president over a Palestinian-writers boycott. For Abu Yasin, whose 2018 theatre was bombed by Israel, a 62-year-old playwright from a refugee camp now sees his work reach a global stage in person for the first time.
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