Hello
Gentle Reader
As
already mentioned the final chapters of the Swedish Academy’s scandal are beginning
to end, which will mean the book will soon be closed and written on as a unsightly
chapter of the academy’s illustrious history. Through the previous year, the
Swedish Academy maintained with great confidence that they will award two
laureates for the Nobel Prize for Literature this autumn. The Nobel Foundation,
however, viewed the situation differently, going so far as to contemplate that
this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature could very well go without a laureate as
well.
Yet,
through the past few months and late last year, the Nobel Foundation had
consulted, counselled, and directed the Swedish Academy to reorganize and rearrange
its affairs. The Nobel Foundations Executive Director: Lars Heikensten had even
publicly stated the Nobel Foundation would go so far as to consider finding
another institution to award the Nobel Prize for Literature. Thankfully the
Swedish Academy compromised on the caveats issued to them and will be able to
retain its status as a Nobel Awarding Institution.
It
should be noted and reminded that one of the caveats that the Nobel Foundation
issued to the Swedish Academy with regards to retaining its awarding privileges,
is that the Nobel Committee will also be open to five external members who are
completely sovereign and separate from the Swedish Academy. These five external
members are of course prominent or up and coming critics, journalists,
academicians, writers, poets and playwrights in their own right—so they are not
completely ignorant or rebellious to what the prize represents. This being
said: another caveat has been issued with regards to how the Nobel Committee
exists and who sits on it. For the past decade or more Horace Engdahl has been
a prominent member of the Nobel Committee, first as Permanent Secretary, and
then as a regular member of the committee since his resignation as the
Permanent Secretary in two-thousand and eight. Over the past year though,
Horace Engdahl has been a polarizing figure within the Swedish Academy as well
as the public, due to his blatant use of external media to vent his frustrations
of the academy as well as defend his friend and now convicted sexual assault/rapist
Jean-Claude Arnault. Due to this, the Nobel Foundation and the Swedish Academy
agreed that Horace Engdahl will no longer be sitting as member on the Nobel
Committee, and will not have a guiding opinion on who will win the prize. Engdahl
will retain his seat as a member of the Swedish Academy.
The
newspaper Svenska Yle, has also reported
that there have been changes to how the Nobel Committee will conduct its
business as well. In years past, the Nobel Committee would draft a shortlist of
five authors who they presented to the Swedish Academy as potential possible
Nobel Laureates for the year; this shortlist was then read and reviewed;
discussed and debated by the academy as a whole, before a final decision was
made. Now, it appears the Nobel Committee will only present one potential and
possible laureate for review and discussion. If this is true, the future
laureates could be considered more controversial then those of years past, as
it limits the input, expertise, and advise of all members of the academy, from
being able to choose the future Nobel Laureate(s) for Literature.
The
Swedish Academy is expected to host a press release later this week (most
likely Thursday) to give its perspective on the matter as well.
Thank-you
For Reading Gentle Reader
Take
Care
And
As Always
Stay
Well Read
M.
Mary
For Further
Reading—
The Nobel Prize (Website) Press Release
DW: "Nobel literature prize for 2018 and 2019 to be awarded this year,"
Politiken: "Two Nobel Prizes will be distributed in literature this year - prominent member thrown out,"
Aftonbladet: "Horace Engdahl leaves the Nobel Committee,"
Svenska.Yle: "This year, two Nobel Prizes will be awarded in literature - and Horace Engdahl will be petted from the Nobel Prize work,"
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