Vaclav Havel receives award on behalf of his friend Pinter
PRAGUE, Oct 26 (CTK) - Former president Vaclav Havel today received a literary award on behalf of his friend Harold Pinter, 75, this year's Literature Nobel Prize winner, from the Prague- based Franz Kafka Society today.
Pinter could not receive the prize in person because he isill. The society's international jury bestowed the prize on Pinter already in April. For the second time it selected an author who then received the Nobel Prize as last year it decorated Austrian writerElfriede Jelinek.
Pinter is the fifth winner of the Franz Kafka Society prize. Before him it was given to Jelinek, American Philip Roth, Czech Ivan Klima and Hungarian Peter Nadas. Havel and Pinter have been friends for a long time as both of them are playwrights who wrote absurdist dramatic works.
Pinter became known after his play "The Birthday Party" (1957) was staged. He has written many plays since, including The Caretaker, Betrayal and One for the Road. At present, Pinter writes poetry and often comments on political issues.
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