Hello
Gentle Reader
In
the past week there has been speculation and rumour that this year’s Nobel
Prize for Literature would be postponed until 2019, whereupon two authors will
be awarded jointly, one for this year and the other for 2019. The Swedish
Academy as a whole has been fragmented when discussing the issue. Temporary
Permanent Secretary Anders Olsson has only eluded that this is in discussions
and debates, nothing concrete. Whereas Göran Malmqvist and Horace Engdahl have
stated with zeal and spikey contempt: the good work will continue despite the
scandal.
Since
the scandal had first unsettled the Swedish Academy mid-April, the Swedish
Academy has lost its usual and singular voice, when it came to discussing these
issues. Since the exodus and dissent against the Academy, there has been a fragmented
chorus, offering splintering perspectives of how the Swedish Academy should
conduct its business; but nothing has been unified or concrete during these
discussions
The
Swedish Academy, however, has stated it will release a press release on May 3rd
announcing the fate of the Nobel Prize for Literature. In other words: on May 3rd,
the world will know whether or not the Swedish Academy will announce a Nobel
Laureate in Literature for 2018.
Considering
the current atmosphere and the weakened ranks of the Swedish Academy, logic
suggests that there will be no Nobel Prize for Literature in 2018. The Swedish
Academy is already lacking the required twelve members to hold a quorum to make
any decisions; and to further add fuel to the fire, Sara Stridsberg has also
decided to relinquish her seat from the Swedish Academy. This means, there are
now only ten active members of eighteen.
It
comes to no surprise that Sara Stridsberg has resigned from the seat. During the
uproar and scandal, Stidsberg was a staunched ally of former Permanent
Secretary of the Swedish Academy, Sara Danius. Since Sara Danius was forced in
a compromise to step down from her role as Permanent Secretary (she resigned,
to my knowledge, from the academy voluntarily), Sara Stidsberg has been a vocal
and critical voice within the Academy, who has done battle against the old
guard, and who has been repeatedly criticized (from what speculation leads)
within the Swedish Academy for her public dissidence.
Now
with Sara Stidsberg’s resignation, the Swedish Academy finds itself in a
perilous and peculiar position—if it hadn’t already found itself before. All
that remains, with a few exceptions, is the old guard of years gone past, who
have been accused and blamed for the mishandling the recent allegations of
sexual misconduct and misallocation of funds.
The
Swedish Academy has a lot to clean up, and a lot of in house work to do. Three
members in particular have been more damaging of late, then those who have
left:
Chair
No. 3 – Sture Allen –Who, when Permanent Secretary was first notified of the
alleged sexual assaults, and chose not to act, considering the information unimportant.
Chair
No. 5 – Göran Malmqvist – Whose blatant and passive aggressive comments against
former members—more specifically, Sara Danius—have done nothing but fuel the
media frenzy, and plunge the Swedish Academy further into a public display of
discord.
Chair
No. 17 – Horace Engdahl – Perhaps the most vocal and vitriolic, often feels he
takes the impeachable moral high ground, but instead only makes an ass of
himself, as he publicly releases his vexations and disgust openly, only to
further move the academy into deeper modes of crisis.
But
it should come to no surprise, Gentle Reader, that highly doubt any of the
three above plan on resigning from their seats any time soon.
On
May 3rd Gentle Reader, we will learn the fate of this year’s Nobel
Prize for Literature; though I wouldn’t be surprised if it is delayed.
Thank-you
For Reading Gentle Reader
Take
Care
And
As Always
Stay
Well Read
M.
Mary
For Further Reading
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sweden-academy/swedish-academy-misconduct-crisis-deepens-as-member-stridsberg-leaves-idUSKBN1HZ0E6
https://www.thelocal.se/20180428/six-member-quits-swedish-academy-over-assault
http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-swedish-academy-member-sara-stridsberg-steps-down-misconduct-crisis-deepens-for-nobel-literature-prize-2609656
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