Two New Members Elected to the Swedish Academy

Hello Gentle Reader,
 
The Swedish Academy (as it stands) will be in full running force for next year, as the academy announced the election of two new members who will occupy the two chairs left vacant after the deaths of Sture Allen (Chair No. 3) and Kjell Espmark (Chair No. 16). Now the accomplished linguist David Håkansson is elected to Chair No. 3, and Swedish writer Anna-Karin Palm. Both writers will be formally inducted into the Swedish Academy during their annual December meeting. Until then, neither author will have a participating role within the academy, and this years Nobel Prize in Literature will be debated, deliberated, and decided by the current members.
 
Prior to the announcement of David Håkansson and Anna-Karin Palm being inducted into the Swedish Academy, there was speculation that the Swedish Academy was facing a recruitment crisis, that writers they had propositioned and approached with an offer to join had all declined, as the institution still suffers some reputational damages from its 2018 crisis. In the 18-member institution, only 7 members have been inducted prior to the crisis, while the remaining 11 (including the two newest appointees) have all been appointed post-crisis.
 
As for David Håkansson and Anna-Karin Palm, both are considered exceptional additions to the academy. Håkansson is an accomplished linguist, who achieved academic acclaim with his dissertation regarding Old Swedish grammar and has since settled into an engaging career in academia. In addition to his academic and professional expertise in language, David Håkansson injects a youthful vitality into the Swedish Academy, at 45 years old, Håkansson is the youngest member currently occupying a chair within the academy.
 
Anna-Karin Palm is perhaps a more conventional choice for the Swedish Academy, as she’s a writer who has written both novels, short stories, essays, a biography of Selma Lagerlöf, but perhaps more interestingly, is an accomplished children’s writer, which is a literary genre the Swedish Academy has lacked expertise in.
 
Thank-you for Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
 
M. Mary