Nobel Prize for Literature Laureates

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Nobel Prize for Literature Laureates

About the Nobel PrizeHow the Nobel Laureates are Chosen | Alfred NobelNobel LinksNobel Trivia | English Language Laureates

Imre Kertesz, of Hungary, has been awarded The Nobel Prize for Literature 2002

"The highest prize should no doubt be awarded to the members of the Swedish Academy, for having had the courage this year to award the Nobel Prize to a jester."  Dario Fo, Nobel Lecture

Nobel Prize Winners

2001 V. S. Naipul, Great Britain (born in Trinidad 1932) | Works  Language: English

2000 Gao Xingjian China, Drama and Prose (1940-)  Nobel LectureWorks in Translation  Language: Chinese

1999 Gunter Grass Germany, Fiction (1927-)  Nobel Lecture The Works of Gunter Grass  Language: German

1998 Jose Saramago Portugal, Fiction (1922-)  Nobel Lecture The Works of Saramago Language: Portuguese

1997 Dario Fo Italy, Drama (1926-)The Works of Dario Fo Language: Italian

1996 Wislawa Szymborska Poland, Poetry (1923- ) Language: Polish

1995 Seamus Heaney Northern Ireland, Poetry (1939- ) | Language: English  Nobel Lecture Poetry by Heaney  

1994 Kenzaburo Oe Japan, Fiction (1935-)  Japanese

1993 Toni Morrison (pseudonym of Chloe Wofford) United States, Fiction (1931-) | Language: EnglishNobel LectureWorks of Toni Morrison

1992 Derek Walcott St Lucia, Poetry and Drama (1930-) | Language: EnglishNobel LectureWorks by Derek Walcott

1991 Nadine Gordimer South Africa, Fiction (1923-) | Language: EnglishThe Works of Gordimer

1990 Octavio Paz Mexico, Poetry and Criticism (1914-1998) Language: Spanish

1989 Camilo Jose Cela Spain, Fiction (1916-2002) Language: Spanish Cela is best known for his works The Family of Pascual Duarte | Paperback and The Hive | Paperback

1988 Naguib Mahfouz Egypt, Fiction (1911-) Language: Arabic

1987 Joseph Brodsky USSR-USA, Poetry (1940-1996) Language: Russian

1986 Wole Soyinka Nigeria, Fiction and Drama (1934-) | Language: EnglishNobel LectureWorks of Wole Soyinka

1985 Claude Simon France, Fiction (1913-) Language: French

1984 Jaroslav Seifert Czechoslovakia, Poetry (1901-1986) Language: Czechoslovakian Nobel Lecture |  Works of Seifert Translated

1983 William Golding Britain, Fiction (1911-1993) | Language: English Biography | Nobel Lecture | List of Works

1982 Gabriel García Márquez Colombia, Fiction (1928-) Language: Spanish

1981 Elias Canetti Bulgaria-Austria-Britain, Fiction and Essays (1905-1994) Language: German

1980 Czeslaw Milosz Poland-United States, Poetry (1911-) Polish

1979 Odysseus Elytis (Odysseus Alepoudhelis) Greece, Poetry (1911-1996) Greek | Nobel LectureWorks in Translation

1978 Isaac Bashevis Singer Poland-United States, Fiction (1904-1991) Yiddish

1977 Vicente Aleixandre Spain, Poetry (1898-1984) Spanish

1976 Saul Bellow USA, Fiction (1915-) | EnglishNobel LectureWorks

1975 Eugenio Montale Italy, Poetry (1896-1981) Italian

1974 (shared) Eyvind Johnson Sweden, Fiction (1900-1976) Swedish Works of Eyvind Johnson  and   Harry Edmund Martinson Sweden, Fiction and Poetry (1904-1978) Swedish  Writings of Harry Martinson

1973 Patrick White Australia, Fiction (1912-1990) | EnglishAutobiographyBibliography

1972 Heinrich Böll Germany, Fiction (1917-1985) German

1971 Pablo Neruda (Ricardo Reyes y Basoalto) Chile, Poetry (1904-1973) Spanish

1970 Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn USSR, Fiction (1918-) Russian

1969 Samuel Beckett Ireland-France, Fiction and Drama (1906-1989) | EnglishBiographical InformationBibliography

1968 Yasunari Kawabata Japan, Fiction (1899-1972) Japanese

1967 Miguel Angel Asturias Guatemala, Fiction (1899-1974) Spanish

1966 Samuel Joseph Agnon (Shmuel Czaczkes) Israel, Fiction (1888-1970)  - Hebrew  Agnon has been incorrectly reported as one who refused the prize. Acceptance Speech and Nelly Sachs Germany-Sweden, Poetry (1891-1970) German

1965 Mikhail Sholokhov USSR, Fiction (1905-1984) Russian

1964 Jean-Paul Sartre France, honored for Fiction, Drama and Philosophy.  (1905-1980) French - The only honoree to turn down the prize voluntarily.  Sartre refused the Nobel Prize for literature on the grounds that such honors could interfere with a writer's responsibilities to his readers.

1963 Giorgios Seferis (pseudonym Giorgos Seferiadis) Greece, Poetry (1900-1971) Greek  Nobel Lecture  The works of Seferis are | Out of Print Find them Here

1962 John Steinbeck United States, Fiction (1902-1968) | EnglishNobel Acceptance SpeechNovels | John Steinbeck Centennial Collection Boxed Set

1961 Ivo Andric Yugoslavia, Fiction (1892-1975) Andric wrote in the Serbo-Croatian language

1960 St-John Perse (Alexis St. Léger) France, Poetry (1887-1975) French

1959 Salvatore Quasimodo Italy, Poetry (1901-1968) Italian

1958 Boris Pasternak USSR, Poetry and Fiction (1890-1960) Russian - Pasternak was forced by the Soviet Government to refuse The Nobel for Literature Award.

1957 Albert Camus France, Fiction and Criticism (1913-1960) French

1956 Juan Ramón Jiménez Spain, Poetry (1881-1958) Spanish

1955 Halidór Kiljian Laxness (pseudonym of Halldor Gudjonsson) Iceland, Fiction (1902-1998) Icelandic

1954 Ernest Miller Hemingway United States, Fiction (1899-1961) | English

1953 Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill Britain, History (1874-1965) | English Churchill in His Own Voice

1952 Francois Mauriac France, Fiction (1885-1970) French

1951 Pär Lagerkvist Sweden, Fiction and Drama (1891-1974)

1950 Bertrand Russell Great Britain, Philosophy (1899-1961) EnglishNobel Acceptance SpeechBibliographyBiography

1949 William Faulkner United States, Fiction (1897-1962) | English Two time winner of both the National Book Award and The Pulitzer Prize for Literature and, also, chosen as a  Nobel Laureate.  He has had the honor of an award, The PEN/Faulkner, being named for him.  Nobel Acceptance Speech | Works by Faulkner

1948 T. S. Eliot (Thomas Stearns Eliot) United States-Britain, Poetry (1888-1965) | English | Nobel Lecture Literature 1948 | Works by T S Eliot | Biography

1947 André Gide France, Fiction (1869-1951) French

1946 Herman Hesse Germany-Switzerland, Fiction (1877-1962) German

1945 Gabriela Mistral (pen-name of Lucila Godoy  Alcayaga) Chile, Poetry (1889-1957) French

1944 Johannes V. Jensen Denmark, Fiction (1873-1950) Danish

1943 -1940 No Nobel Award

1939 Frans Eemil Sillanpää Finland, Fiction (1888-1964) Finnish

1938 Pearl S. Buck (pseudonym  Pearl Walsh née Sydenstricker) United States, Fiction (1892-1973) | English | Nobel LecturePearl S Buck Works | Biography

1937 Robert Martin du Gard France, Fiction (1881-1958) French

1936 Eugene Gladstone O’Neill United States, Drama (1888-1953) | English

1935 No Award

1934 Luigi Pirandello Italy, Drama and Fiction (1867-1936) Italian

1933 Ivan G. Bunin Russia, Fiction (1870-1953) Russian

1932 John Galsworthy Britain, Fiction and Drama (1867-1933) | English

1931 Erik A. Karlfeldt Sweden, Poetry (1864-1931) Swedish

1930 Sinclair Lewis United States, Fiction (1885-1951) | English

1929 Thomas Mann Germany, Fiction (1875-1955) German

1928 Sigrid Undset Norway, Fiction (1882-1949) Norwegian

1927 Henri Bergson France, Philosophy (1859-1941) French

1926 Grazia Deledda (pseudonym of Grazia Madesani) Italy, Fiction (1871-1936) Italian

1925 George Bernard Shaw Ireland-Britain, Drama (1856-1950) | English

1924 Wladyslaw Reymount (Pen Name of Wladyslaw Rejment) Poland, Fiction (1867-1925) Polish

1923 William Butler Yeats Ireland, Poetry (1865-1939) | English

1922 Jacinto Benavente y Martinez Spain, Drama (1866-1954) Spanish

1921 Anatole France (a k a Jacques Anatole Thibault) France, Fiction (1844-1924) French

1920 Knut Hamsun (pseudonym of Knud Hamsund) Norway, Fiction (1859-1952) Norwegian

1919 Carl F. G. Spitteler Switzerland, Poetry (1845-1924) German

1918 No Award

1917 Karl Gjellerup Denmark, Poetry (1857-1919) Danish and  Henrik Pontoppidan Denmark, Fiction (1857-1943) Danish

1916 Carl Verner von Heidenstam Sweden, Poetry and Fiction (1859-1940) Swedish

1915 Romain Rolland France, Fiction (1866-1944) French

1914 No Award

1913 Rabindranath Tagore India, Poetry (1861-1941) Bengali - but! was honored by the Nobel Committee for works in translation

1912 Gerhart Hauptmann Germany, Drama (1862-1946) German

1911 Count Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck Belgium, Poetry and Drama (1862-1949) French

1910 Paul J. L. Heyse Germany, Poetry Drama and Fiction (1830-1914) German

1909 Selma Lagerlöf Sweden, Fiction (1858-1940) Swedish

1908 Rudolf Eucken Germany, Philosophy (1846-1926) German

1907 Rudyard Kipling Britain, Poetry and Fiction (1865-1936) | English

1906 Giusuè Carducci Italy, Poetry (1835-1907) Italian

1905 Henryk Sienkiewicz Poland, Fiction (1846-1916) Polish

1904 Frédéric Mistral France, Poetry (1830-1914) Spanish  and  José Echegary y Eizaguirre Spain, Drama (1832-1916) Spanish

1903 Björnstjerne Björnson Norway, Poetry (1832-1910) Norwegian

1902 C. M. Theodor Mommsen Germany, history (1817-1903) German

1901 Sully Prudhomme (a.k.a. René F. A. Sully-Prudhomme, RENÉ FRANÇOIS ARMAND) France, Poetry (1839-1907) French

Note: Countries are determined not by birth, residence or place of education but rather where the bulk of the laureates work was written. Writers sometimes divide their time between countries.  This is noted by the Nobel committee.

How the Nobel Laureates are Chosen

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