Nobel Prize for literature postponed after sex abuse allegations
A sex scandal has caused the postponement of the Nobel Prize for Literature this year, prompting several members to resign from the board of the Swedish Academy that makes the award.
The decision to postpone the award follows sex abuse allegations and other issues within the ranks of the Swedish Academy that selects the winner, it was announced on Friday.
The council of prestigious authors and linguists has been dealing with the fallout from allegations of sexual misconduct by the husband of one of its members, and of the leaks of names of some prize-winners ahead of the formal announcements.
For the first time since 1943, the Nobel Prize for Literature will not be awarded this year amid a sex abuse scandal. Pictured is the old Stock Exchange Building, home of the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, which makes the award. Source: AP
The Academy’s internal feud was triggered by an abuse scandal linked to Jean-Claude Arnault, a photographer and major cultural figure in Sweden who is also the husband of poet Katarina Frostenson, an academy member.
Arnault denies all allegations regarding both sexual misconduct and leaking the names of laureates, his lawyer told reporters on Thursday.
Chairman of the board of the Nobel Foundation, Carl-Henrik Heldin, announced the postponement on Friday.
“The Swedish Academy has decided to postpone the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature, with the intention of awarding it in 2019,” he said in a statement.
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2018 has been postponed. The Nobel Foundation supports the Swedish Academy’s decision. Press release: https://t.co/eayNN3YgYv
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) May 4, 2018
“The crisis in the Swedish Academy has adversely affected the Nobel Prize. Their decision underscores the seriousness of the situation and will help safeguard the long-term reputation of the Nobel Prize.
“The present decision was arrived at in view of the currently diminished Academy and the reduced public confidence in the Academy.”
Mr Heldin added that the decision would not impact the awarding of the 2018 Nobel Prizes in other prize categories.
“Work on the selection of a laureate is at an advanced stage and will continue as usual in the months ahead but the Academy needs time to regain its full complement, engage a larger number of active members and regain confidence in its work, before the next Literature Prize winner is declared.”
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The Academy said it aimed to award two prizes in 2019.
A postponement or cancellation of the prize is rare but not unprecedented.
There were no awards between 1940 and 1943, due to the Second World War, while the American novelist William Faulkner received his prize a year late in 1950 when two prizes were handed out.
The rules of the foundation that administers the will of dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel mean prizes can be reserved until the following year.
