The Swedish Academy held its first meeting since the summer break (and the summer silence), on Thursday September 6th. The following day, Friday September 7th, newspapers ran reports and articles over the few pearls the Swedish Academy wished to disclose with regards to the meetings events. Who was in attendance is not entirely certain, though it is expected the following members were in attendance by Chair Number:
Chair No. 2 – Bo Ralph
Chair No. 3 – Sture Allen
Chair No. 4 – Anders Olsson (pro tempore Permanent Secretary)
Chair No. 5 – Göran Malmqvist
Chair No. 6 – Tomas Riad
Chair No. 8 – Jesper Svenbro
Chair No. 9 – Jayne Svenungsson
Chair No. 12 – Per Wästberg
Chair No. 14 – Kristina Lugn
Chair No. 17 – Horace Engdahl
The above ten members are considered the only remaining ten members still active within the academy. It is still unknown and uncertain if the following three members were in attendance (again organized by Chair Number):
Chair No. 7 – Sara Danius
Chair No. 10 – Peter Englund
Chair No. 16 – Kjell Espmark
It should also be reminded the above three members are considered officially inactive; but have stated they considered returning to the Swedish Academy in a ‘passive,’ capacity, which entails they will only assist the above ten remaining members in electing new members to the currently vacant seats which are:
Chair No. 1 – Formally held by: Lotass
Chair No. 11 –Formally held by: Klas Östergren
Chair No. 13 – Formally held by: Sara Stridsberg
Chair No. 15 Formally held by: Kerstin Ekman (who had been inactive since: 1989, prior)
Finally, it should be noted, Chair No. 18 held by the disgraced (and disgruntled) member, Katarina Frostenson, was also not present at the first autumnal meeting of the academy. She is considered by all accounts virtually: persona non grata—or unwelcome to the Swedish Academy’s meetings.
Anders Olsson has no begun to represent the Swedish Academy as its public relations representative. First, he welcomed the idea of taking back the three members: Sara Danius, Peter Englund, and Kjell Espmark, when it was reported they would be returning. When it was revealed this was misinformation, Olsson remained calm and quiet, not willing to inflame the situation any further.
After Thursdays meeting, Anders Olsson, however has decided to make good faith and put on a good face for both the public, the Nobel Foundation and the Royal Patronage of the Swedish Academy. First and foremost Anders Olsson stated, the academy is already on the path to correct itself and rebuild its trust with the public both in Sweden and internationally, reconstruct its reputation, rebuild the academy to its full potential, and reinstitute itself as a pillar of prestige and honour, worthy to hold the responsibility of the Nobel Prize for Literature, and award the Nobel Laureate in Literature.
In order to do this, Anders Olsson has stated the academy plans on recruiting a jurist (or lawyer) sit on the academy. Fun fact, Chair No. 1, has by convention always been occupied by a member of the legal profession. The first member of recent memory to occupy Chair No 1, without having a legal degree or any affiliation with the legal profession was the former member, Lotta Lotass. Anders Olsson, states this tradition must be reinstituted into the academy moving forward, as it will help the academy overall interpret and understand its own statutes and bylaws, as some are centuries old. This legal advice, he believes, would have helped the academy resolve its earlier crisis a lot more efficiently and quietly, rather than how it was handled. After all, a lawyer in the academy could operate in theory as a impartial internal arbitrator or at least a legal resource to help resolve issues the legalities of the academy’s position.
Following this, Anders Olsson has stated the Swedish Academy has worked tirelessly to amend its statutes and rework them into a more contemporary reality. This, however, has raised eyebrows, at least with the royal household. The Swedish palace had released a statement stating that all amendments of statutes of the Swedish Academy would be done so by the King himself. In other words, the Swedish Academy has neither the authority nor autonomy to make any adjustments to its statutes; that ability resides with its Royal patron, the King of Sweden. Yet, according to Per Wästberg, forty-eight paragraphs (or perhaps bylaws and statutes) have been agreed upon to be revised. The palace itself, affirms its stance all revisions will be done by the King himself. This leads one to wonder if the Swedish Academy has any interest in seeing past its own bloated nose, of puffed pompous self-importance. If the Swedish Academy has any desire to make amends it needs to understand its own position, and not supersede or overstep it. After all: they failed at handling the original crisis with decorum, tact and diplomacy, and allowed it to spew into the public realm.
As for now, it is unclear where the Swedish Academy sits. The coming weeks and months will see how they decided to scale the monumental mountain they have created for themselves. Spring may have blossomed into summer, but summer is now leafing into autumn, and soon autumn will freeze into winter. Over the coming weeks, and months the Swedish Academy will need to prove to its patronage and the Nobel Foundation that they have got their house in order, in order to begin doing the great and noble work of the Noble Prize for Literature. Until then—or rather: we’ll see what happens until then.
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
M. Mary
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