NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS IN LITERATURE, 1901-2002

	NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS IN LITERATURE 1901-2002
V.S. Naipaul		Imre Kertesz

Each year the respective Nobel Prize committees send individual invitations to thousands of scientists, members of academies and university professors in numerous countries, asking them to nominate candidates for the Nobel Prizes for the coming year. Those who are competent to submit nominations are chosen in such away that as many countries and universities as possible will be represented. The nominations received by each committee are then evaluated with the help of specially appointed experts. When the committees have made their selection among the nominated candidates and have presented their recommendations to the Prize Awarding Institutions, a vote is taken for the final choice of Laureates. The choice of the year's laureates is announced immediately after the vote in October each year. The prizes are awarded at the Prize Award Ceremony at the Concert Hall in Stockholm, Sweden on December 10 (the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death). The Nobel Prize for Literature is awarded by the Swedish Academy, an independent cultural institution founded in 1786 by King Gustav III in order to advance the Swedish language and Swedish literature. In the following table we include in addition to the name and nationality of the Laureate, an excerpt from the Academy's citation.

{IF YOU WISH TO BUY NEW OR USED BOOKS CLICK HERE}

2002	Imre Kertesz	Hungary	For writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history.
2001	V. S. Naipaul	Great Britain	For having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories.
2000	Gao Xingjian	China	An oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity, which has opened new paths for the Chinese novel and drama.
1999	GUNTER GRASS	Germany	Whose frolicsome black fables portray the forgotten face of history.
1998	JOSE SARAMAGO	Portugal	Who with parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony continually enables us once again to apprehend an illusory reality.
1997	DARIO FO	Italy	Who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden.
1996	WISLAWA SZMBORSKA	Poland	For poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality.
1995	SEAMUS HEANEY	Ireland	For works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past.
1994	KENZABURO OE	Japan	Who with poetic force creates an imagined world, where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today.
1993	TONI MORRISON	U.S.	Who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.
1992	DEREK WALCOTT	West Indies	For a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment.
1991	NADINE GORDIMER	South Africa	Who through her magnificent epic writing has - in the words of Alfred Nobel - been of very great benefit to humanity.
1990	OCTAVIO PAZ	Mexico	For impassioned writing with wide horizons, characterized by sensuous intelligence and humanistic integrity.
1989	CAMILO JOSE CELA	Spain	For a rich and intensive prose, which with restrained compassion forms a challenging vision of man's vulnerability.
1988	NAGUIB MAHFOUZ	Egypt	Who through works rich in nuance - now clearsightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind.
1987	JOSEPH BRODSKY	U. S.	For an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity.
1986	WOLE SOYINKA	Nigeria	Who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence.
1985	CLAUDE SIMON	France	Who in his novel combines the poet's and the painter's creativeness with a deepened awareness of time in the depiction of the human condition.
1984	JAROSLAV SEIFERT	Czecho- slovakia	For his poetry which endowed with freshness, sensuality and rich inventiveness provides a liberating image of the indomitable spirit and versatility of man.
1983	WILLIAM GOLDING	Great Britain	For his novels which, with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth, illuminate the human condition in the world of today.
1982	GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ	Colombia	For his novels and short stories, in which fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent's life and conflicts.
1981	ELIAS CANETTI	Great Britain	For writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas and artistic power.
1980	CZELAW MILOSZ	Poland, U.S.	Who with uncompromising clear-sightedness voices man's exposed condition in a world of severe conflicts.
1979	ODYSSEUS ELYTIS (Odysseus Alepoudhelis)	Greece	For his poetry, which, against the background of Greek tradition, depicts with sensuous strength and intellectual clear-sightedness modern man's struggle for freedom and creativeness.
1978	ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER	U.S.	For his impassioned narrative art which, with roots in a Polish-Jewish cultural tradition, brings universal human conditions to life.
1977	VICENTE ALEIXANDRE	Spain	For a creative poetic writing which illuminates man's condition in the cosmos and in present-day society, at the same time representing the great renewal of the traditions of Spanish poetry between the wars.
1976	SAUL BELLOW	U. S.	For the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work.
1975	EUGENIO MONTALE	Italy	For his distinctive poetry which, with great artistic sensitivity, has interpreted human values under the sign of an outlook on life with no illusions.
1974	EYVIND JOHNSON	Sweden	For a narrative art, farseeing in lands and ages, in the service of freedom.
1974	HARRY MARTINSON	Sweden	For writings that catch the dewdrop and reflect the cosmos.
1973	PATRICK WHITE	Australia	For an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent into literature.
1972	HEINRICH BOLL	Germany	For his writing which through its combination of a broad perspective on his time and a sensitive skill in characterization has contributed to a renewal of German literature
1971	PABLO NERUDA	Chile	For a poetry that with the action of an elemental force brings alive a continent's destiny and dreams.
1970	ALEKSANDR ISAEVICH SOLZHENITSYN	USSR	For the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature.
1969	SAMUEL BECKETT	Ireland	For his writing which - in new forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation.
1968	YASUNARI KAWABATA	Japan	For his narrative mastery, which with great sensibility expresses the essence of the Japanese mind.
1967	MIGUEL ANGEL ASTURIAS	Guatemala	For his vivid literary achievement, deep-rooted in the national traits and traditions of Indian peoples of Latin America.
1966	SHMUEL YOSEF AGNON	Israel	For his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of the Jewish people.
1966	NELLY SACHS	Germany	For her outstanding lyrical and dramatic writing, which interprets Israel's destiny with touching strength.
1965	MIKHAIL ALEKSANDROVICH SHOLOKHOV	USSR	For the artistic power and integrity with which, in his epic of the Don, he has given expression to a historic phase in the life of the Russian people.
1964	JEAN-PAUL SARTRE	France	For his work which, rich in ideas and filled with the spirit of freedom and the quest for truth, has exerted a far reaching influence on our age.
1963	GIORGOS SEFERIS (Giorgos Seferiadis)	Greece	For his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for Hellenic world of culture.
1962	JOHN STEINBECK	U. S.	For his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception.
1961	IVO ANDRIC	Yugoslavia	For the epic force with which he has traced themes and depicted human destinies drawn from the history of his country.
1960	SAINT-JOHN PERSE (Alexis Leger)	France	For the soaring flight and evocative imagery of his poetry which in a visionary fashion reflects the conditions of our times.
1959	SALVATORE QUASIMODO	Italy	For his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire, expresses the tragic experience of life in our own times.
1958	BORIS LEONIDOVICH PASTERNAK	USSR	For his important achievement both in contemporary lyrical poetry and in the field of the great Russian epic tradition.
1957	ALBERT CAMUS	France	For his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times.
1956	JUAN RAMON JIMENEZ	Spain	For his lyrical poetry, which in the Spanish language constitutes an example of high spirit and artistic purity.
1955	HALLDOR KILJAN LAXNESS	Iceland	For his vivid epic power which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland.
1954	ERNEST MILLER HEMINGWAY	US	For his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style.
1953	WINSTON LEONARD SPENCER CHURCHILL	Great Britain	For his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.
1952	FRANCOIS MAURIAC	France	For the deep spiritual insight and the artistic intensity with he has in his novels penetrated the drama of human life.
1951	PAR FABIAN LAGERKVIST	Sweden	For the artistic vigor and true independence of mind with which he endeavors in his poetry to find answers to the eternal questions confronting mankind.
1950	BERTRAND RUSSELL	Great Britain	In recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought.
1949	WILLIAM FAULKNER	U. S.	For his powerfully and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel.
1948	THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT	Great Britain	For his outstanding, pioneering contribution to present-day poetry.
1947	ANDRE PAUL GUILLAUME GIDE	France	For his comprehensive and artistically significant writings, in which human problems and conditions have been presented with a fearless love of truth and keen psychological insight.
1946	HERMANN HESSE	Switzerland	For his inspired writings which exemplify the classical humanitarian ideals and high qualities of style.
1945	GABRIELA MISTRAL (Lucila Godoy Y Alca-Yaga)	Chile	For her lyric poetry which has made her a symbol of the idealistic aspirations of the entire Latin American world.
1944	JOHANNES VILHELM JENSEN	Denmark	For the rare strength and fertility of his poetic imagination with which is combined an intellectual curiosity of wide scope and a bold, freshly creative style.
1943	No award
1942	No award
1941	No award
1940	No award
1939	FRANZ EEMIL SILANPAA	Finland	For his deep understanding of his country's peasantry and the exquisite art with which he has portrayed their way of life and their relationship to nature.
1938	Pearl Buck (Pearl Walsh nee Sydenstricker)	US	For her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and her biographical masterpieces.
1937	ROGER MARTIN DU GARD	France	For the artistic power and truth with which he has depicted human conflict as well as some fundamental aspects of contemporary life in his novel cycle Les Thibault.
1936	EUGENE GLADSTONE O'NEILL	US	For the power, honesty and deep-felt emotions of his dramatic works, which embody an original concept of tragedy.
1935	No award
1934	LUIGI PIRANDELLO	Italy	For his bold and ingenious revival of dramatic and scenic art.
1933	IVAN ALEKSEYEVICH BUNIN	(France)	For the strict artistry with which he has carried on the classical Russian traditions in prose writing.
1932	JOHN GALSWORTHY	Great Britain	For his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsyth Saga.
1931	ERIK AXEL KARFELDT	Sweden	For his poetry.
1930	SINCLAIR LEWIS	US	For his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create with wit and humor, new types of characters.
1929	THOMAS MANN	Germany	Principally for his great novel Buddenbrooks, which has won steadily increased recognition as one of the classic works of contemporary literature.
1928	SIGRID UNDSET	Norway	Principally for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages.
1927	HENRI BERGSON	France	In recognition of his rich and vitalizing ideas and the brilliant skill with which they have been presented.
1926	GRAZIA DELEDDA (Grazia Madesani nee Deledda)	Italy	For her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general.
1925	GEORGE BERNARD SHAW	Great Britain	For his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire being infused with a singular poetic beauty.
1924	WLADYSLAW STANISLAW REYMONT	Poland	For his great national epic, The Peasants.
1923	WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS	Ireland	For his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.
1922	JACINTO BENAVENTE	Spain	For the happy manner in which he has continued the illustrious traditions of the Spanish drama.
1921	ANATOLE FRANCE (Jacques Anatole Thibault)	France	In recognition of his brilliant literary achievements, characterized as they are by a nobility of style, a profound human sympathy, grace, and a true Gallic Temperament.
1920	KNUT PEDERSEN HAMSUN	Norway	For his monumental work, Growth of the Soil.
1919	CARL FRIEDRICH SPITTELER	Switzerland	In special appreciation of his epic, Olympian Spring.
1918	No award
1917	KARL ADOLPH GJELLERUP	Denmark	For his varied and rich poetry, which is inspired by lofty ideals.
1917	HENRIK PONTOPPIDAN	Denmark	For his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark.
1916	CARL GUSTAV VERNER VON HEIDENSTAM	Sweden	In recognition of his significance as the leading representative of a new era in literature.
1915	ROMAIN ROLLAND	France	As a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary production and to the sympathy and love of truth with which he has described different types of human beings.
1914	No award
1913	RABINDRANATH TAGORE	India	Because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh, and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West.
1912	GERHART JOHANN ROBERT HAUPTMANN	Germany	Primarily in recognition of his fruitful, varied and outstanding production in the realm of dramatic art.
1911	COUNT MAURICE (MOORIS) POLIDORE MARIE BERNHARD MAETERLINCK	Belgium	In appreciation of his many-sided literary activities, and especially of his dramatic works.
1910	PAUL JOHANN LUDWIG HEYSE	Germany	As a tribute to the consummate artistry, permeated with idealism, which he has demonstrated during his long productive career as a lyric poet, dramatist, novelist and writer of world-renowned short stories.
1909	SELMA OTTILIA LOVISA LAGERLOF	Sweden	In appreciation of the lofty idealism. vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings.
1908	RUDOLF CHRISTOPH EUCKEN	Germany	In recognition of his earnest search for truth, his penetrating power of thought, his wide range of vision, and the warmth and strength in presentation with which ... he has vindicated and developed an idealistic philosophy of life.
1907	RUDYARD KIPLING	Great Britain	In consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author.
1906	GIOSUE CARDUCCI	Italy	Not only in consideration of his deep learning and critical research, but above all as a tribute to the creative energy, freshness of style, and lyrical force which characterize his poetic masterpieces.
1905	HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ	Poland	Because of his outstanding merits as an epic writer.
1904	FREDERIC MISTRAL	France	In recognition of the fresh originality and true inspiration of his poetic production, which faithfully reflects the natural scenery and native spirit of his people, and in addition, his significant work as a Provencal philologist.
1904	JOSE ECHEGARAY Y EIZAGUIRRE	Spain	In recognition of the numerous and brilliant compositions which, in an individual and original manner, have revived the great traditions of the Spanish drama.
1903	BJORNSTJERNE MARTINUS BJORNSON	Norway	As a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry which has always been distinguished by both the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity of its spirit.
1902	CHRISTIAN MATTHIAS THEODOR MOMMSEN	Germany	The greatest living master of the art of historical writing, with reference to his monumental work, A History of Rome.
1901	SULLY PRUDHOMME (Rene Francois Armand)	France	In special recognition of his poetic composition, which gives evidence of lofty idealism, artistic perfection and a rare combination of the qualities of both heart and intellect.

HOME