Nobel Prizes
in Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded 109 times to 113
Nobel Laureates between 1901 and 2016. Click on the links to get more
information.
2016
Bob Dylan: “for having created new poetic expressions within the great
American song tradition”
2015
Svetlana Alexievich: “for her polyphonic writings, a monument to
suffering and courage in our time”
2014
Patrick Modiano: “for the art of memory with which he has evoked
the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the
occupation”
2013
2012
Mo Yan: “who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the
contemporary”
2011
Tomas Tranströmer: “because, through his condensed, translucent
images, he gives us fresh access to reality”
2010
Mario Vargas Llosa: “for his cartography of structures of power and
his trenchant images of the individual’s resistance, revolt, and defeat”
2009
Herta Müller: “who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of
prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed”
2008
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio: “author of new departures, poetic
adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the
reigning civilization”
2007
Doris Lessing: “that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism,
fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny”
2006
Orhan Pamuk: “who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native
city has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures”
2005
Harold Pinter: “who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday
prattle and forces entry into oppression’s closed rooms”
2004
Elfriede Jelinek: “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”
2003
John M. Coetzee: “who in innumerable guises portrays the
surprising involvement of the outsider”
2002
Imre Kertész: “for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the
individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history”
2001
Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul: “for having united
perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see
the presence of suppressed histories”
2000
Gao Xingjian: “for an æuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and
linguistic ingenuity, which has opened new paths for the Chinese novel and
drama”
1999
Günter Grass: “whose frolicsome black fables portray the forgotten face of
history”
1998
José Saramago: “who with parables sustained by imagination, compassion and
irony continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality”
1997
Dario Fo: “who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging
authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden”
1996
Wislawa Szymborska: “for poetry that with ironic precision allows
the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human
reality”
1995
Seamus Heaney: “for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt
everyday miracles and the living past”
1994
Kenzaburo Oe: “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: “who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic
import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality”
1992
Derek Walcott: “for a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a
historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment”
1991
Nadine Gordimer: “who through her magnificent epic writing has -
in the words of Alfred Nobel - been of very great benefit to humanity”
1990
Octavio Paz: “for impassioned writing with wide horizons, characterized
by sensuous intelligence and humanistic integrity”
1989
Camilo José Cela: “for a rich and intensive prose, which with
restrained compassion forms a challenging vision of man’s vulnerability”
1988
Naguib Mahfouz: “who, through works rich in nuance - now clear-sightedly
realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that
applies to all mankind”
1987
Joseph Brodsky: “for an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of
thought and poetic intensity”
1986
Wole Soyinka: “who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic
overtones fashions the drama of existence”
1985
Claude Simon: “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: “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: “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 García Márquez: “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”
1981
Elias Canetti: “for writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas
and artistic power”
1980
Czeslaw Milosz: “who with uncompromising clear-sightedness voices man’s
exposed condition in a world of severe conflicts”
1979
Odysseus Elytis: “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: “for his impassioned narrative art which, with
roots in a Polish-Jewish cultural tradition, brings universal human conditions
to life”
1977
Vicente Aleixandre: “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: “for the human understanding and subtle analysis of
contemporary culture that are combined in his work”
1975
Eugenio Montale: “for his distinctive poetry which, with great
artistic sensitivity, has interpreted human values under the sign of an outlook
on life with no illusions”
1974Eyvind Johnson
Harry Martinson: “for writings that catch the dewdrop and reflect
the cosmos”
1973
Patrick White: “for an epic and psychological narrative art which has
introduced a new continent into literature”
1972
Heinrich Böll: “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: “for a poetry that with the action of an elemental force
brings alive a continent’s destiny and dreams”
1970
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn: “for the ethical force with which he has
pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature”
1969
Samuel Beckett: “for his writing, which - in new forms for the novel and
drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation”
1968
Yasunari Kawabata: “for his narrative mastery, which with great
sensibility expresses the essence of the Japanese mind”
1967
Miguel Angel Asturias: “for his vivid literary achievement, deep-rooted
in the national traits and traditions of Indian peoples of Latin America”
1966
Shmuel Yosef Agnon: “for his profoundly characteristic narrative art
with motifs from the life of the Jewish people”
Nelly Sachs: “for her outstanding lyrical and dramatic writing, which
interprets Israel’s destiny with touching strength”
1965
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov: “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: “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: “for his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a
deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture”
1962
John Steinbeck: “for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as
they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception”
1961
Ivo Andric: “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: “for the soaring flight and the evocative
imagery of his poetry which in a visionary fashion reflects the conditions of
our time”
1959
Salvatore Quasimodo: “for his lyrical poetry, which with classical
fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own times”
1958
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak: “for his important achievement both in
contemporary lyrical poetry and in the field of the great Russian epic
tradition”
1957
Albert Camus: “for his important literary production, which with
clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in
our times”
1956
Juan Ramón Jiménez: “for his lyrical poetry, which in Spanish
language constitutes an example of high spirit and artistical purity”
1955
Halldór Kiljan Laxness: “for his vivid epic power which has renewed the
great narrative art of Iceland”
1954
Ernest Miller Hemingway: “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
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill: “for his mastery of
historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in
defending exalted human values”
1952
François Mauriac: “for the deep spiritual insight and the artistic
intensity with which he has in his novels penetrated the drama of human life”
1951
Pär Fabian Lagerkvist: “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”
1950
Earl (Bertrand Arthur William) Russell: “in recognition of his
varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and
freedom of thought”
1949
William Faulkner: “for his powerful and artistically unique
contribution to the modern American novel”
1948
Thomas Stearns Eliot: “for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to
present-day poetry”
1947
André Paul Guillaume Gide: “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: “for his inspired writings which, while growing in boldness
and penetration, exemplify the classical humanitarian ideals and high qualities
of style”
1945
Gabriela Mistral: “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”
1944
Johannes Vilhelm Jensen: “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
Note: No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was with 1/3
allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize
section.
1942
Note: No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was with 1/3
allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize
section.
1941
Note: No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was with 1/3
allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize
section.
1940
Note: No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was with 1/3
allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize
section.
1939
Frans Eemil Sillanpää: “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”
1938
Pearl Buck: “for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in
China and for her biographical masterpieces”
1937
Roger Martin du Gard: “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: “for the power, honesty and deep-felt emotions
of his dramatic works, which embody an original concept of tragedy”
1935
Note: No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was with 1/3
allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize
section.
1934
Luigi Pirandello: “for his bold and ingenious revival of dramatic
and scenic art”
1933
Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin: “for the strict artistry with which he has
carried on the classical Russian traditions in prose writing”
1932
John Galsworthy: “for his distinguished art of narration which
takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga”
1931
Erik Axel Karlfeldt: “The poetry of Erik Axel Karlfeldt”
1930
Sinclair Lewis: “for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his
ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters”
1929
Thomas Mann: “principally for his great novel, Buddenbrooks, which has won steadily increased
recognition as one of the classic works of contemporary literature”
1928
Sigrid Undset: “principally for her powerful descriptions of Northern life
during the Middle Ages”
1927
Henri Bergson: “in recognition of his rich and vitalizing ideas and the
brilliant skill with which they have been presented”
1926
Grazia Deledda: “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: “for his work which is marked by both idealism
and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic
beauty”
1924
Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont: “for his great national epic, The Peasants”
1923
William Butler Yeats: “for his always inspired poetry, which in a
highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation”
1922
Jacinto Benavente: “for the happy manner in which he has continued
the illustrious traditions of the Spanish drama”
1921
Anatole 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: “for his monumental work, Growth of the Soil”
1919
Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler: “in special appreciation of his epic, Olympian Spring”
1918
Note: No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was allocated
to the Special Fund of this prize section.
1917
Karl Adolph Gjellerup: “for his varied and rich poetry, which is
inspired by lofty ideals”
Henrik Pontoppidan: “for his authentic descriptions of present-day
life in Denmark”
1916
Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam: “in recognition of his
significance as the leading representative of a new era in our literature”
1915
Romain Rolland: “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
Note: No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was
allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section.
1913
Rabindranath Tagore: “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: “primarily in recognition of his
fruitful, varied and outstanding production in the realm of dramatic art”
1911
Count Maurice (Mooris) Polidore Marie Bernhard Maeterlinck: “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”
1910
Paul Johann Ludwig Heyse: “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 Lagerlöf: “in appreciation of the lofty idealism,
vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings”
1908
Rudolf Christoph Eucken: “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”
1907
Rudyard Kipling: “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
Giosuè Carducci: “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: “because of his outstanding merits as an epic
writer”
1904
Frédéric Mistral: “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”
José Echegaray y Eizaguirre: “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
Bjørnstjerne Martinus Bjørnson: “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: “the greatest living
master of the art of historical writing, with special reference to his
monumental work, A
history of Rome”
1901
Sully Prudhomme: “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”
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