‘War lives in me’: Gaza playwright Ali Abu Yasin wins English PEN award

Ali Abu Yasin, a Gaza playwright who continued to write as his community faced sustained bombardment, has been named Writer of Courage 2026 by English PEN. The 62-year-old began composing plays and learning the oud as a teenager in al-Shati refugee camp and later worked with the Said Al-Mishal Theatre in Gaza City, an institution destroyed in a 2018 Israeli strike.

When large-scale hostilities began in October 2023, Abu Yasin paused producing conventional theatre and turned to documenting life under attack, writing about displacement, fear and survival. He says he witnessed deaths close to him, had his house bombed and at one point had a son trapped under rubble; during those first two years he focused on keeping his family alive while recording events for the record.

After a period of displacement he resumed writing, hiding screenplays and carrying them with him as he moved. His recent play 50 Minutes, staged in Gaza, addresses themes of genocide and mourning and was rehearsed by actors in improvised settings such as tents and car parks. Abu Yasin has described continuing shortages and survival practices he adopted in Gaza, and said that even after leaving he still feels the war and Gaza within him.

Abu Yasin was nominated for the English PEN prize by British critic Jacqueline Rose, who won the 2026 PEN Pinter Prize. English PEN, the UK branch of PEN International, said the Writer of Courage award recognises authors who defend free expression at significant personal risk. Abu Yasin travelled to France on an artist residency shortly before the ceremony and attended the award event in London’s British Library.

The case also sits against broader debates within the PEN network: English PEN has joined PEN International in calling for an arms embargo on Israel and condemned killings of Palestinian writers, while PEN America faced criticism and a boycott in recent years over its handling of Palestinian issues. Abu Yasin has three children and 16 grandchildren, most of whom remain in Gaza; his son Amjad lives in France.