Hello Gentle Reader
As the years go by the Swedish Academy reveals its secret archives, of the nominated authors every slowly. Just as in nineteen-sixty one, it was revealed that J.R.R. Tolkien had been nominated, but was passed over. Then of course the refueled controversy over Steinbeck's accolade; as he was chosen as the best of the worst of all the candidates nominated. The secrecy behind the award, is slowly coming to light, and allows for a fascinating view into the procedures behind the award and the authors chosen. The year nineteen-sixty three has just been revealed. There were eighty individual suggested that year. Out of those eighty individuals, twenty two were new. However nineteen-sixty three was the year of the poet. The eventual winner was the first Greek writer and poet Giorgos Seferis. However on the long list in which Seferis competed it included:
W.H. Auden,
Pabulo Neruda
Samuel Beckett
Yukio Mishima
Aksel Sandemose
Out of these five only Pablo Neruda and Samuel Beckett would go on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Neruda in nineteen-seventy one and Beckett in nineteen-sixty nine. Auden would die in nineteen-seventy three, and Mishima would commit his famous suicide in nineteen-seventy, two years after his mentor and friend Kawabata became the first Japanese writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Aksel Sandemose died two years later. This longlist was quickly shortened into a list of three chosen authors. Yukio Mishima was one of the new candidates and according to the Swedish Academy:
"was one of four Japanese nominees and it was decided that his authorship was not yet to be given preference in comparison with the other four from Japan."
Pushing Mishima out of the running. Aksel Sandemose was also pushed out of the running, because he had not yet fulfilled the requirements in his writing, for such an international prize. Beckett's work, was still misunderstood by some of the academy who worried that his work was more nihilistic, then it was idealistic.
This left three poets: Giorgos Seferis, W.H. Auden, and Pablo Neruda. Out of these three authors, only two would win the award. Auden would never receive the award. Why is currently unknown.
It is an interesting look into the award's history, and the eventual chosen authors. It raises debate for some, who was the better author: Mishima or Kawabata. I personally would chose Yasunari Kawabata over Yukio Mishima; though there is no denying that Mishma was a wonderful talent in his own right.
Thank-You for Reading Gentle Reader
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Stay Well Read
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M. Mary
