Horace Engdahl, the former permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, announcing that Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Nobel Prize in Literature (Swedish: Nobelpriset i litteratur) is awarded annually by the Swedish Academy to authors for outstanding contributions in the field of literature. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the 1895 will of Alfred Nobel, which are awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine.[1] As dictated by Nobel's will, the award is administered by the Nobel Foundation and awarded by the Swedish Academy.[2] The first Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded in 1901 to Sully Prudhomme of France.[3] Each recipient receives a medal, a diploma and a monetary award prize that has varied throughout the years.[4] In 1901, Prudhomme received 150,782 SEK, which is equivalent to 8,823,637.78 SEK in January 2018. The award is presented in Stockholm at an annual ceremony on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death.[5]

As of 2023, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to 120 individuals.[6] The youngest laureate was Rudyard Kipling, who was 41 years old when he was awarded in 1907. The oldest laureate to receive the prize was Doris Lessing, who was 88 when she was awarded in 2007. It has been awarded posthumously once, to Erik Axel Karlfeldt in 1931.[7] When he received the award in 1958, Russian-born Boris Pasternak was forced to publicly reject the award under pressure from the government of the Soviet Union. In 1964, Jean-Paul Sartre made known that he did not wish to accept the Nobel Prize in Literature,[8] as he had consistently refused all official honors in the past.[9] However the Nobel committee does not acknowledge refusals, and includes Pasternak and Sartre in its list of Nobel laureates.[10]

Seventeen women have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, the second highest number of any of the Nobel Prizes behind the Nobel Peace Prize.[11][12] There have been four instances in which the award was given to two people (1904, 1917, 1966, 1974). There have been seven years in which the Nobel Prize in Literature was not awarded (1914, 1918, 1935, 1940–1943). There have been three years for which the Nobel Prize in Literature was delayed one year: the prizes for 1915,[13] 1949[14] and 2018[15][16][6] were each awarded together with that of the following year in October of the following year. As of 2022, there have been 29 English-speaking laureates of the Nobel Prize in Literature, followed by French with 16 laureates and German with 14 laureates. France has the highest number of Nobel laureates.

Laureates

Year Picture Laureate Country Language(s) Age
awarded		 Citation Genre(s)


1901 Sully Prudhomme
(1839–1907)		  France French 62 "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"[17] poetry, essay
1902 Theodor Mommsen
(1817–1903)		  Germany German 85 "the greatest living master of the art of historical writing, with special reference to his monumental work A History of Rome"[18] history, law
1903 Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
(1832–1910)		  Norway Norwegian 71 "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"[19] poetry, novel, drama
1904 Frédéric Mistral
(1830–1914)		  France Provençal 74 "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 Provençal philologist"[20] poetry, philology
José Echegaray
(1832–1916)		  Spain Spanish 72 "in recognition of the numerous and brilliant compositions which, in an individual and original manner, have revived the great traditions of the Spanish drama"[20] drama
1905 Henryk Sienkiewicz
(1846–1916)		  Poland
( Russian Empire)		 Polish 59 "because of his outstanding merits as an epic writer"[21] novel
1906 Giosuè Carducci
(1835–1907)		  Italy Italian 71 "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"[22] poetry
1907 Rudyard Kipling
(1865–1936)		  United Kingdom English 41 "in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration that characterize the creations of this world-famous author"[23] novel, short story, poetry
1908 Rudolf Christoph Eucken
(1846–1926)		  Germany German 62 "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 in his numerous works he has vindicated and developed an idealistic philosophy of life"[24] philosophy
1909 Selma Lagerlöf
(1858–1940)		  Sweden Swedish 51 "in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings"[25] novel, short story
1910 Paul von Heyse
(1830–1914)		  Germany German 80 "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"[26] poetry, drama, novel, short story
1911 Maurice Maeterlinck
(1862–1949)		  Belgium French 49 "in appreciation of his many-sided literary activities, and especially of his dramatic works, which are distinguished by a wealth of imagination and by a poetic fancy, which reveals, sometimes in the guise of a fairy tale, a deep inspiration, while in a mysterious way they appeal to the readers' own feelings and stimulate their imaginations"[27] drama, poetry, essay
1912 Gerhart Hauptmann
(1862–1946)		  Germany German 50 "primarily in recognition of his fruitful, varied and outstanding production in the realm of dramatic art"[28] drama, novel
1913 Rabindranath Tagore
(1861–1941)		  India
( India)		 Bengali and English 52 "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"[29] poetry, novel, drama, short story, essay, translation
1914 Not awarded
1915 Romain Rolland
(1866–1944)		  France French 49 "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"[13] novel
1916 Verner von Heidenstam
(1859–1940)		  Sweden Swedish 56 "in recognition of his significance as the leading representative of a new era in our literature"[30] poetry, novel
1917 Karl Adolph Gjellerup
(1857–1919)		  Denmark Danish and German 60 "for his varied and rich poetry, which is inspired by lofty ideals"[31] poetry
Henrik Pontoppidan
(1857–1943)		  Denmark Danish 60 "for his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark"[31] novel
1918 Not awarded
1919 Carl Spitteler
(1845–1924)		   Switzerland German 74 "in special appreciation of his epic, Olympian Spring"[32] poetry
1920 Knut Hamsun
(1859–1952)		  Norway Norwegian 61 "for his monumental work, Growth of the Soil"[33] novel
1921 Anatole France
(1844–1924)		  France French 77 "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"[34] novel, poetry
1922 Jacinto Benavente
(1866–1954)		  Spain Spanish 56 "for the happy manner in which he has continued the illustrious traditions of the Spanish drama"[35] drama
1923 William Butler Yeats
(1865–1939)		  Ireland English 58 "for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation"[36] poetry
1924 Władysław Reymont
(1867–1925)		  Poland Polish 57 "for his great national epic, The Peasants"[37] novel
1925 George Bernard Shaw
(1856–1950)		  United Kingdom
 Ireland[38]
 English 69 "for his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty"[39] drama, essay
1926 Grazia Deledda
(1871–1936)		  Italy Italian 55 "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"[40] poetry, novel
1927 Henri Bergson
(1859–1941)		  France French 68 "in recognition of his rich and vitalizing ideas and the brilliant skill with which they have been presented"[41] philosophy
1928 Sigrid Undset
(1882–1949)		  Norway
 Denmark		 Norwegian 46 "principally for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages"[42] novel
1929 Thomas Mann
(1875–1955)		  Germany German 54 "principally for his great novel, Buddenbrooks, which has won steadily increased recognition as one of the classic works of contemporary literature"[43] novel, short story, essay
1930 Sinclair Lewis
(1885–1951)		  United States English 45 "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters"[44] novel, short story, drama
1931 Erik Axel Karlfeldt
(1864–1931)		  Sweden Swedish 67 "The poetry of Erik Axel Karlfeldt"[45] poetry
1932 John Galsworthy
(1867–1933)		  United Kingdom English 65 "for his distinguished art of narration, which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga"[46] novel
1933 Ivan Bunin
(1870–1953)		 Stateless
(born in Russian Empire)		 Russian 63 "for the strict artistry with which he has carried on the classical Russian traditions in prose writing"[47] short story, poetry, novel
1934 Luigi Pirandello
(1867–1936)		  Italy Italian 67 "for his bold and ingenious revival of dramatic and scenic art"[48] drama, novel, short story
1935 Not awarded
1936 Eugene O'Neill
(1888–1953)		  United States English 48 "for the power, honesty and deep-felt emotions of his dramatic works, which embody an original concept of tragedy"[49] drama
1937 Roger Martin du Gard
(1881–1958)		  France French 56 "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"[50] novel
1938 Pearl Buck (1892–1973)  United States English 46 "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces"[51] novel, biography
1939 Frans Eemil Sillanpää
(1888–1964)		  Finland Finnish 51 "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 with Nature"[52] novel
1940 Not awarded
1941 Not awarded
1942 Not awarded
1943 Not awarded
1944 Johannes Vilhelm Jensen
(1873–1950)		  Denmark Danish 71 "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"[53] novel, short story
1945 Gabriela Mistral
(1889–1957)		  Chile Spanish 56 "for her lyric poetry, which inspired by powerful emotions, has made her name a symbol of the idealistic aspirations of the entire Latin American world"[54] poetry
1946 Hermann Hesse
(1877–1962)		  Germany
  Switzerland		 German 69 "for his inspired writings, which while growing in boldness and penetration, exemplify the classical humanitarian ideals and high qualities of style"[55] novel, poetry
1947 André Gide
(1869–1951)		  France French 78 "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"[56] novel, essay, drama, memoir
1948 Thomas Stearns Eliot
(1888–1965)		  United Kingdom
(born in the United States)		 English 60 "for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry"[57] poetry, essay, drama
1949 William Faulkner
(1897–1962)		  United States English 52 "for his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel"[14] novel, short story
1950 Bertrand Russell
(1872–1970)		  United Kingdom English 78 "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought"[58] philosophy, essay
1951 Pär Lagerkvist
(1891–1974)		  Sweden Swedish 60 "for the artistic vigour and true independence of mind with which he endeavours in his poetry to find answers to the eternal questions confronting mankind"[59] poetry, novel, short story, drama
1952 François Mauriac
(1885–1970)		  France French 67 "for the deep spiritual insight and the artistic intensity with which he has in his novels penetrated the drama of human life"[60] novel, short story
1953 Winston Churchill
(1874–1965)		  United Kingdom English 79 "for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values"[61] history, essay, memoir
1954 Ernest Hemingway
(1899–1961)		  United States English 55 "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"[62] novel, short story, screenplay
1955 Halldór Laxness
(1902–1998)		  Iceland Icelandic 53 "for his vivid epic power, which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland"[63] novel, short story, drama, poetry
1956 Juan Ramón Jiménez
(1881–1958)		  Spain Spanish 75 "for his lyrical poetry, which in Spanish language constitutes an example of high spirit and artistical purity"[64] poetry, novel
1957 Albert Camus
(1913–1960)		  France
(born in Algeria)		 French 44 "for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times"[65] novel, short story, drama, philosophy, essay
1958 Boris Pasternak
(1890–1960)		  Soviet Union Russian 70 "for his important achievement both in contemporary lyrical poetry and in the field of the great Russian epic tradition"[66] novel, poetry, translation
1959 Salvatore Quasimodo
(1901–1968)		  Italy Italian 58 "for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own times"[67] poetry
1960 Saint-John Perse
(1887–1975)		  France
(born in Guadeloupe)		 French 73 "for the soaring flight and the evocative imagery of his poetry, which in a visionary fashion reflects the conditions of our time"[68] poetry
1961 Ivo Andrić
(1892–1975)		  Yugoslavia
(born in Austria-Hungary)		 Serbo-Croatian 69 "for the epic force with which he has traced themes and depicted human destinies drawn from the history of his country"[69] novel, short story
1962 John Steinbeck
(1902–1968)		  United States English 60 "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception"[70] novel, short story, screenplay
1963 Giorgos Seferis
(1900–1971)		  Greece
(born in the Ottoman Empire)		 Greek 63 "for his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture"[71] poetry, essay, memoir
1964 Jean-Paul Sartre
(1905–1980)		  France French 59 "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"[72] philosophy, novel, drama, essay, short story, screenplay
1965 Mikhail Sholokhov
(1905–1984)		  Soviet Union Russian 60 "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"[73] novel
1966 Shmuel Yosef Agnon
(1888–1970)		  Israel
(born in Austria-Hungary)		 Hebrew 79 "for his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of the Jewish people"[74] novel, short story
Nelly Sachs
(1891–1970)		  Germany
 Sweden
 German 75 "for her outstanding lyrical and dramatic writing, which interprets Israel's destiny with touching strength"[74] poetry, drama
1967 Miguel Ángel Asturias
(1899–1974)		  Guatemala Spanish 68 "for his vivid literary achievement, deep-rooted in the national traits and traditions of Indian peoples of Latin America"[75] novel, poetry
1968 Yasunari Kawabata
(1899–1972)		  Japan Japanese 69 "for his narrative mastery, which with great sensibility expresses the essence of the Japanese mind"[76] novel, short story
1969 Samuel Beckett
(1906–1989)		  Ireland French and English 63 "for his writing, which – in new forms for the novel and drama – in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation"[77] novel, drama, poetry
1970 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
(1918–2008)		  Soviet Union Russian 52 "for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature"[78] novel, essay, short story
1971 Pablo Neruda
(1904–1973)		  Chile Spanish 67 "for a poetry that with the action of an elemental force brings alive a continent's destiny and dreams"[79] poetry
1972 Heinrich Böll
(1917–1985)		  West Germany German 55 "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"[80] novel, short story
1973 Patrick White
(1912–1990)		  Australia
(born in the United Kingdom)		 English 61 "for an epic and psychological narrative art, which has introduced a new continent into literature"[81] novel, short story, drama
1974 Eyvind Johnson
(1900–1976)		  Sweden Swedish 74 "for a narrative art, farseeing in lands and ages, in the service of freedom"[82] novel
Harry Martinson
(1904–1978)		  Sweden Swedish 70 "for writings that catch the dewdrop and reflect the cosmos"[82] poetry, novel, drama
1975 Eugenio Montale
(1896–1981)		  Italy Italian 79 "for his distinctive poetry, which, with great artistic sensitivity, has interpreted human values under the sign of an outlook on life with no illusions"[83] poetry
1976 Saul Bellow
(1915–2005)		  United States
(born in Canada)		 English 61 "for the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work"[84] novel, short story
1977 Vicente Aleixandre
(1898–1984)		  Spain Spanish 79 "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"[85] poetry
1978 Isaac Bashevis Singer
(1902–1991)		  United States
 Poland		 Yiddish 76 "for his impassioned narrative art which, with roots in a Polish-Jewish cultural tradition, brings universal human conditions to life"[86] novel, short story, memoir
1979 Odysseas Elytis
(1911–1996)		  Greece Greek 68 "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"[87] poetry, essay
1980 Czesław Miłosz
(1911–2004)
 Poland
(born in Russian Empire)		 Polish 69 "who with uncompromising clear-sightedness voices man's exposed condition in a world of severe conflicts"[88] poetry, essay
1981 Elias Canetti
(1905–1994)		  United Kingdom
 Bulgaria		 German 76 "for writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas and artistic power"[89] novel, drama, memoirs, essay
1982 Gabriel García Márquez
(1927–2014)		  Colombia Spanish 55 "for his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent's life and conflicts"[90] novel, short story, screenplay
1983 William Golding
(1911–1993)		  United Kingdom English 72 "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"[91] novel, poetry, drama
1984 Jaroslav Seifert
(1901–1986)		  Czechoslovakia
(born in Austria-Hungary)		 Czech 83 "for his poetry, which endowed with freshness, and rich inventiveness provides a liberating image of the indomitable spirit and versatility of man"[92] poetry
1985 Claude Simon
(1913–2005)		  France
(born in French Madagascar)		 French 72 "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"[93] novel, essay
1986 Wole Soyinka
(b. 1934)		  Nigeria English 52 "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence"[94] drama, novel, poetry, screenplay
1987 Joseph Brodsky
(1940–1996)		  United States
 Soviet Union		 Russian and English 47 "for an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity"[95] poetry, essay
1988 Naguib Mahfouz
(1911–2006)		  Egypt Arabic 77 "who, through works rich in nuance – now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous – has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind"[96] novel, short story
1989 Camilo José Cela
(1916–2002)		  Spain Spanish 73 "for a rich and intensive prose, which with restrained compassion forms a challenging vision of man's vulnerability"[97] novel, short story, essay, poetry
1990 Octavio Paz
(1914–1998)		  Mexico Spanish 76 "for impassioned writing with wide horizons, characterized by sensuous intelligence and humanistic integrity"[98] poetry, essay
1991 Nadine Gordimer
(1923–2014)		  South Africa English 68 "who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity"[99] novel, short story, essay, drama
1992 Derek Walcott
(1930–2017)		  Saint Lucia English 62 "for a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment"[100] poetry, drama
1993 Toni Morrison
(1931–2019)		  United States English 62 "who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality"[101] novel, essay
1994 Kenzaburō Ōe
(1935–2023)		  Japan Japanese 59 "who with poetic force creates an imagined world, where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today"[102] novel, short story, essay
1995 Seamus Heaney
(1939–2013)		  Ireland English 56 "for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past"[103] poetry, drama, translation, essay
1996 Wisława Szymborska
(1923–2012)		  Poland Polish 73 "for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality"[104] poetry, essay, translation
1997 Dario Fo
(1926–2016)		  Italy Italian 71 "who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden"[105] drama, song lyrics
1998 José Saramago
(1922–2010)		  Portugal Portuguese 76 "who with parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality"[106] novel, drama, poetry
1999 Günter Grass
(1927–2015)		  Germany
(born in Free City of Danzig)		 German 72 "whose frolicsome black fables portray the forgotten face of history"[107] novel, drama, poetry, essay
2000 Gao Xingjian
(b. 1940)		  France
Taiwan China		 Chinese 60 "for an oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity, which has opened new paths for the Chinese novel and drama"[108] novel, drama, essay
2001 Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul
(1932–2018)		  United Kingdom
 Trinidad and Tobago		 English 69 "for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories"[109] novel, essay
2002 Imre Kertész
(1929–2016)		  Hungary Hungarian 73 "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history"[110] novel
2003 John Maxwell Coetzee
(b. 1940)		  South Africa English 63 "who in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider"[111] novel, essay, translation
2004 Elfriede Jelinek
(b. 1946)		  Austria German 58 "for her musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that with extraordinary linguistic zeal reveal the absurdity of society's clichés and their subjugating power"[112] novel, drama
2005 Harold Pinter
(1930–2008)		  United Kingdom English 75 "who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms"[113] drama, screenplay, poetry
2006 Orhan Pamuk
(b. 1952)		  Turkey Turkish 54 "who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures"[114] novel, screenplay, autobiography, essay
2007 Doris Lessing
(1919–2013)		  United Kingdom
(born in Iran)		 English 88 "that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny"[115] novel, short story, memoir/autobiography, drama, poetry, essay
2008 Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
(b. 1940)		  France
 Mauritius		 French 68 "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization"[116] novel, short story, essay, translation
2009 Herta Müller
(b. 1953)		  Germany
 Romania		 German 56 "who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed"[117] novel, short story, poetry, essay
2010 Mario Vargas Llosa
(b. 1936)		  Peru
 Spain		 Spanish 74 "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat"[118] novel, short story, essay, drama, memoir
2011 Tomas Tranströmer
(1931–2015)		  Sweden Swedish 80 "because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality"[119] poetry, translation
2012 Mo Yan
(b. 1955)		  China Chinese 57 "who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary"[120] novel, short story
2013 Alice Munro
(b. 1931)		  Canada English 82 "master of the contemporary short story"[121] short story
2014 Patrick Modiano
(b. 1945)		  France French 69 "for the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the Occupation"[122] novel, screenplay
2015 Svetlana Alexievich
(b. 1948)		  Belarus
(born in the Soviet Union)		 Russian 67 "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time"[123] history, essay
2016 Bob Dylan
(b. 1941)		  United States English 75 "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition"[124] poetry, song lyrics
2017 Kazuo Ishiguro
(b. 1954)		  United Kingdom (born in Japan) English 63 "who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world"[125] novel, screenplay, short story
2018 Olga Tokarczuk
(b. 1962)		  Poland Polish 56 "for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life"[126] novel, short story, poetry, essay, screenplay
2019 Peter Handke
(b. 1942)		  Austria German 77 "for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience"[127] novel, short story, drama, essay, translation, screenplay
2020 Louise Glück
(1943–2023)		  United States English 77 "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal"[128] poetry, essay
2021 Abdulrazak Gurnah
(b. 1948)		  Tanzania
 United Kingdom
(born in the Sultanate of Zanzibar)		 English 72 "for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents"[129] novel, short story, essay
2022 Annie Ernaux
(b. 1940)		  France French 82 "for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory"[130] memoir, novel
2023 Jon Fosse
(b. 1959)		  Norway Norwegian
(Nynorsk)		 64 "for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable"[131] drama, novel, poetry, essay

Nobel laureates by birthplace

Nobel laureates by country

The 120 Nobel laureates in literature from 1901 to 2023 have come from the following countries:

Country Number
 France 16
 United States 13
 United Kingdom 13
 Germany 9
 Sweden 8
 Poland 6
 Spain 6
 Italy 6
 Russia/ Soviet Union 5
 Ireland 4
 Norway 4
 Denmark 3
 Austria 2
 Chile 2
 Greece 2
 Japan 2
 South Africa 2
  Switzerland 2
 China 2
 Australia 1
 Belarus 1
 Belgium 1
 Bulgaria 1
 Canada 1
 Colombia 1
 Czechoslovakia 1
 Egypt 1
 Finland 1
 Guatemala 1
 Hungary 1
 Iceland 1
 India 1
 Israel 1
 Mauritius 1
 Mexico 1
 Nigeria 1
 Peru 1
 Portugal 1
 Romania 1
 Saint Lucia 1
 Tanzania 1
 Turkey 1
 Yugoslavia 1

Nobel Prize in Literature (by language)

Language Number
English 29 (32)1
French 16
German 14 (15)2
Spanish 11
Swedish 7
Italian 6
Russian 6
Polish 5
Norwegian 4
Danish 3
Chinese 2
Greek 2
Japanese 2
Arabic 1
Bengali 1
Czech 1
Finnish 1
Hebrew 1
Hungarian 1
Icelandic 1
Provençal (Occitan) 1
Portuguese 1
Serbo-Croatian 1
Turkish 1
Yiddish 1

1Rabindranath Tagore (Nobel Prize in Literature 1913) wrote in Bengali and English, Samuel Beckett (Nobel Prize in Literature 1969) wrote in French and English and Joseph Brodsky (Nobel Prize in Literature 1987) wrote poetry in Russian and prose in English. These three Nobel laureates have been sorted under Bengali, French and Russian, respectively.[132]

2Karl Adolph Gjellerup (Nobel Prize in Literature 1917) wrote in Danish and German.

Nobel laureates by sex

The 120 Nobel laureates in literature from 1901 to 2023 were from the following sexes:

Decade Male Female
1900–1909 9 1
1910–1919 9 0
1920–1929 8 2
1930–1939 8 1
1940–1949 5 1
1950–1959 10 0
1960–1969 10 1
1970–1979 11 0
1980–1989 10 0
1990–1999 7 3
2000–2009 7 3
2010–2019 7 3
2020–2029 2 2
Total 103 17

References

Notes

^ A. The information in the country column is according to nobelprize.org, the official website of the Nobel Foundation. This information may not necessarily reflect the recipient's birthplace or citizenship.

Citations

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  7. ↑ Facts on the Nobel Prize in Literature Nobelprize.org
  8. ↑ Flood, Alison (2015-01-05). "Jean-Paul Sartre rejected Nobel prize in a letter to jury that arrived too late". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2017-09-10. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
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