Nobel Prize in Literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature is a Swedish literary award presented annually to an author from any country. The Swedish Academy in Stockholm, Sweden, is the institution that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature.

9 facts · 1 storiesDocument updated

Established facts

  1. The cited reference explains that Academy members read candidates' works in their original languages. When no member masters a shortlisted author's language, translators and oath-sworn experts provide samples of the writing.

    Verified

  2. In the selection procedure described by the cited reference, Academy members vote in October, and a candidate receiving more than half of the votes is named the literature laureate.

    Verified

  3. The cited reference describes nominations as open to Academy members, members of literature academies and societies, professors of literature and language, previous Nobel literature laureates and presidents of writers' organizations. It excludes self-nomination.

    Verified

  4. The literature prize comprises a gold medal, a diploma bearing a citation and a monetary award. The cited reference states that the monetary amount depends on the Nobel Foundation's income for the relevant year.

    Verified

  5. The cited reference describes a staged evaluation: proposals are due by February 1, the Academy's Nobel Committee reduces the field to around 20 candidates by April, and the Academy approves five shortlisted names by May. The following four months are spent reading and reviewing those candidates' works.

    Verified

  6. The award recognizes an author's body of work as a whole, although individual works may be singled out as particularly noteworthy.

    Verified

  7. Alfred Nobel's 1895 will established literature as one of five prize fields intended to recognize those conferring the greatest benefit on mankind. Its literary criterion called for the person who had produced the most outstanding work in an ideal direction.

    Verified · 1895

Related topics

References

Related stories

FactSnap stories are secondary summaries.

Revision history

  1. Revision 3 ·
  2. Revision 2 ·
  3. Revision 1 ·