British playwright Harold Pinter was today announced as the surprise winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2005.
Harold Pinter winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in literature
The 75-year-old Londoner, son of a Jewish dressmaker, is one of Britain's best-known playwrights for works such as The Birthday Partyand The Caretaker. His spare style, full of silences, has given rise to the adjective "Pinteresque".
Pinter "uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms", said the Swedish Academy's citation for the 10 million crown ($1.28 million) prize.
"Pinter restored theatre to its basic elements: an enclosed space and unpredictable dialogue, where people are at the mercy of each other and pretence crumbles," read the citation.
The writer is also known for campaigning for human rights and for his screenplays for film and television, including the 1981 movie The French Lieutenant's Woman, based on John Fowles's novel.