The Nobel Committee for Literature is the

Nobel Committee A Nobel Committee is a working body responsible for most of the work involved in selecting Nobel Prize laureates. There are five Nobel Committees, one for each Nobel Prize. Four of these committees (for prizes in physics, chemistry, physiolo ...

responsible for evaluating the nominations and presents its recommendations to the Swedish Academy, which then selects, through votation, the Nobel Prize in Literature. The committee members – usually five – are elected for three years among the Swedish Academy members, with the Permanent Secretary serving as an associate member. In assessing the qualifications of candidates, the committee invites the assistance of specially appointed expert advisers, which include translators, literary critics, and linguists.

Committee duties and deliberations

Every year in September, the Nobel Committee sends out nomination forms to hundreds of individuals and organizations qualified to nominate. Some uninvited nominations from other literary societies, academies, and individuals are also accepted. Such forms must be completed and submitted on or before January 31st, the Nobel Committee's deadline for submissions. From February to April, the Nobel Committee screens the nominations and presents a list for approval by the Swedish Academy. Immediately after the nominees are approved, the Committee evaluates and creates a list of 25 to 20 candidates for preliminary evaluation. After the deliberations, the Committee selects five priority candidates that they thoroughly assess specifically on their body of literary work and merits. From June to August, each Committee member prepares their respective findings and criticisms of the candidates. In September, the Academy members receive the Committee members' assessments of the finalists and discuss the literary merits of the different candidates' contributions. Within this month, the Committee again sends out nomination forms for the following year's deliberations. In October, days before the announcement, the Academy selects the Nobel laureate in Literature through votation. A candidate must receive more than half of the votes cast. It rarely happens that the Academy proposes another candidate aside from the Committee's finalists, which causes distress and conflicts among the members. In 2021 – the year when Tanzanian-born British author

Abdulrazak Gurnah Abdulrazak Gurnah (born 20 December 1948) is a Tanzanian-born British novelist and academic. He was born in the Sultanate of Zanzibar and moved to the United Kingdom in the 1960s as a refugee during the Zanzibar Revolution. His novels include ...

won the prize – Committee member

Ellen Mattson Ellen Mattson (born 22 September 1962) is a Swedish writer. Her first fictional work to be published in English translation was ''Snow'' (2005), a historical novel set in the early 18th century. She has won several literary prizes, including th ...

was asked about what criteria the Committee uses in selecting a laureate, she responded saying: Committee chair Anders Olsson also expressed his thoughts in October 2019 – the year American poet

Louise Glück Louise Elisabeth Glück ( ; born April 22, 1943) is an American poet and essayist. She won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature, whose judges praised "her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal". H ...

won – of what they look for writer worthy of becoming a Nobel laureate, saying:

Current members

The following Swedish Academy members form the current Nobel Committee for Literature since 2022:

Former members

* Carl David af Wirsén Chair 1900-1912 *

Carl Snoilsky Count Carl Johan Gustaf Snoilsky (8 September 1841 – 19 May 1903) was a Swedish lyric poet, known for his realist poetry. Biography Snoilsky was born in Stockholm to Sigrid (née Banér), a painter and countess, and Nils Snoilsky, a Justi ...

1900-1903 * Clas Theodor Odhner 1900-1903 *

Hans Hildebrand Hans Olof Hildebrand Hildebrand (5 April 1842 – 2 February 1913) was a Swedish archeologist. He is internationally known as one of the pioneers of the archaeological technique of typology. Biography Born in Stockholm, he was the son of Bror E ...

1903-1913 (Chair pro tempore 1912-1913) *

Erik Axel Karlfeldt Erik Axel Karlfeldt (20 July 1864 – 8 April 1931) was a Swedish poet whose highly symbolist poetry masquerading as regionalism was popular and won him the 1931 Nobel Prize in Literature posthumously after he had been nominated by Nathan Söde ...

1907-1931 * Harald Hjärne Chair 1913-1921 *

Per Hallström Per August Leonard Hallström (29 September 1866 – 18 February 1960) was a Swedish author, short-story writer, dramatist, poet and member of the Swedish Academy. He joined the academy in 1908, and served as its Permanent Secretary from 193 ...

1913-1946 (Chair 1922-1946) *

Henrik Schück Henrik Schück (2 November 1855 – 3 October 1947) was a Swedish literary historian, university professor and author. Biography Johan Henrik Emil Schück was a professor at the Lund University 1890–1898. He was a professor at Uppsala Univer ...

1920-1936 *

Anders Österling Anders Österling (13 April 1884 – 13 December 1981) was a Swedish poet, critic and translator. In 1919 he was elected as a member of the Swedish Academy when he was 35 years old and served the Academy for 62 years, longer than any other memb ...

1921-1981 (Chair 1947-1970) * Fredrik Böök 1929-1950 *

Hjalmar Hammarskjöld Knut Hjalmar Leonard Hammarskjöld (; 4 February 1862 – 12 October 1953) was a Swedish politician, scholar, cabinet minister, Member of Parliament from 1923 to 1938 (first chamber), and Prime Minister of Sweden from 1914 to 1917. In 1890, he m ...

1932-1946 * Sigfrid Siwertz 1942-1963 *

Hjalmar Gullberg Hjalmar Gullberg (30 May 1898 – 19 July 1961) was a Swedish poet and translator. Career Gullberg was born in Malmö, Scania. As a student at Lund University, he was the editor of the student magazine Lundagård. He was the manager of t ...

1947-1961 *

Eyvind Johnson Eyvind Johnson (29 July 1900 – 25 August 1976) was a Swedish novelist and short story writer. Regarded as the most groundbreaking novelist in modern Swedish literature he became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1957 and shared the 1974 Nob ...

1959-1972 * Henry Olsson 1960-1971 *

Karl Ragnar Gierow Karl Ragnar Knut Gierow (2 April 190430 October 1982) was a Swedish theater director, author and translator. Biography Gierow was born and grew up in Helsingborg. He enrolled at Lund University in 1922, and received a licentiate degree in 1934. ...

1963-1982 (Chair 1970-1980) * Erik Lindegren 1964-1968 *

Lars Gyllensten Lars Johan Wictor Gyllensten (12 November 1921 – 25 May 2006) was a Swedish author and physician, and a member of the Swedish Academy. Gyllensten was born and grew up in a middle-class family in Stockholm, son of Carl Gyllensten and Ingrid R ...

1968-1987 (Chair 1981-1987) * Artur Lundkvist 1969-1986 * Johannes Edfelt 1972-1987 * Östen Sjöstrand 1979-1990 *

Kerstin Ekman Kerstin Lillemor Ekman, née Hjorth, (born 27 August 1933) is a Swedish novelist. Life and career Kerstin Ekman wrote a string of successful detective novels (among others ''De tre små mästarna'' and ''Dödsklockan'') but later went on to ps ...

1983-1987 * Sture Allén 1987-1999 *

Kjell Espmark Kjell Erik Espmark (19 February 1930 – 18 September 2022) was a Swedish writer, literary historian, member of the Swedish Academy, and Professor of the History of Literature at Stockholm University. He was elected to the Swedish Academy on 5 Ma ...

Chair 1987-2004 *

Katarina Frostenson Alma Katarina Frostenson Arnault (born 5 March 1953) is a Swedish poet and writer. She was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1992 to 2019. In 2003, Frostenson was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in France in recognition of her serv ...

2002-2015, associate member 2015-2018 *

Kristina Lugn Gunhild Bricken Kristina Lugn (; 14November 1948 – 9 May 2020)Jones, Evelyn.Författaren Kristina Lugn är död", Dagens Nyheter 9 May 2020. Accessed 9 May 2020. was a Swedish poet and dramatist and member of the Swedish Academy. Early ...

2008-2020 *

Peter Englund Peter Mikael Englund (born 4 April 1957) is a Swedish author and historian. Englund writes non-fiction books and essays, often about the Swedish Empire and other historical events. He writes in a very accessible style, providing narrative deta ...

associate member 2009-2015 * Sara Danius associate member 2015-2019 *

Sara Stridsberg Sara Brita Stridsberg (born 29 August 1972) is a Swedish author and playwright. Her first novel, ''Happy Sally'' was about Sally Bauer, who in 1939 had become the first Scandinavian woman to swim the English Channel. Her big international breakt ...

springterm 2018 *

Jesper Svenbro Jesper Svenbro (born 10 March 1944) is a Swedish poet, classical philologist, and member of the Swedish Academy. Biography Svenbro was born in Landskrona, Scania, Sweden. He was educated at Lund University, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in 197 ...

2019-2020

References

{{Nobel Prizes Nobel Prize in Literature Swedish Academy Awards juries and committees