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according to tradition, the
swedish academy sets the
date for its announcement
of the nobel prize in
literature at a much later
time – only on monday was
it declared that the literary
award would be announced
on thursday, 6 october.
Nobel.org website, Beutler described his
emotions. “I was in bed,” he said. “I happened
to wake up in the middle of the night. I looked
over at my cell phone and I noticed that I had
a new email message. And, I squinted at it
and I saw that the title line was 'Nobel Prize',
so I thought I should give close attention to
that. And, I opened it and it was from Goran
Hansson, and it said that I had won the Nobel
Prize, and so I was thrilled. And, I was a
little disbelieving and I went downstairs and
looked at my laptop, and I couldn't get into
the Nobel site for quite a while because it was
all packed. So, I went to Google news and in
a few minutes I saw my name there and so I
knew it was real.”
Over the coming week, Hansson, the Nobel
Committee secretary, will be calling up the
2011 laureates from the remaining disciplines
to give them the news. On Tuesday, 4 October,
the Nobel Prize in Physics is announced, on
nobel prize
Wednesday its chemistry, and on Friday it’s
the Peace Prize. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize
in Economic Sciences will be announced
on 10 October. According to tradition,
the Swedish Academy sets the date for
its announcement of the Nobel Prize in
Literature at a much later time – only on
Monday was it declared that the literary
award would be announced on Thursday, 6
October.
The reason behind the above may be that
it’s this last one that’s always the most hotly
debated, at least as far as the media and the
bookies are concerned. As of this writing,
according to the Guardian, “the much-touted
Syrian poet Adonis sits atop the betting at
4/1, with last year's favourite, the Swedish
poet Thomas Tranströmer, following at 11/2.
The Hungarian novelist Péter Nádas comes
next, with the Japanese novelist Haruki
Murakami close behind – both seem to have
important books out this year in Swedish
translation.”
What about Philip Roth? The perennial
bridesmaid, the greatest living American
writer never to have won a Nobel, isn’t
expected to get his due in 2011 either. It’s
been 18 years since the prize was awarded
to an American (Toni Morrison, 1993), and
33 years since it was awarded to a white
American male (Isaac Bashevis Singer, 1978,
who was in fact an émigré from Poland), so
the London bookmakers are playing it more
than safe by offering Roth at 25/1.
read more:
1. The official website of the Nobel Prize
2. “Nobel prize for literature: place your bets,” in the Guardian
tuesday - 4 october 2011