The Nature of Things

The Swedish Academy canceled the awarding of a Nobel prize for literature in 2018 because of a sexual assault and harassment scandal that wracked the committee that would have made the decision on the award. While they try to sort all of that out and recover their reputation from the scandal, another group of Swedish cultural figures has stepped up to fill the void. The New Academy will present a prize in literature, adhering to the same schedule as the Nobel award. The New Academy, however, is following a radically different process in selecting its winner. Rather than a small secretive panel choosing a winner, the more than 100 Swedish cultural figures who make up the academy asked for nominations from Sweden's librarians.  There were 47 names put forward and those were opened up to a public vote, from which an expert jury selected a shortlist of four authors. Last week, the New Academy announced the names on that shortlist. They are: Neal Gaiman, described as "a true super...

Now be honest. Did you know the name Patrick Modiano before it was announced that he had won the Nobel Prize for Literature on Thursday? You did? Well, you are obviously much better read than I. I don't recall ever having heard the name before, but then I am certain there are any number of fine writers in the world of whom I have never heard. And every year in October I can count on the Swedish Academy bringing one of them to my and the world's attention. The Nobel is almost always awarded to someone who is unfamiliar to me, which truly doesn't say much for the quality of my literacy or the eclecticism of my reading selections. I did know last year's winner Alice Munro, although to be honest I had not read more than a smidgen of her work. Short stories are really not my thing. But I was totally unfamiliar with the Chinese novelist Mo Yan who won in 2012 and he is, apparently, a very big wheel in the literary world. Nor did I know Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer who won i...

I've mentioned here before that I'm not really a fan of the short story. Earlier this year I ventured into the genre to read the much acclaimed short story collection Tenth of December by George Saunders , but it, frankly, left me cold except for a couple of the stories. I couldn't really see what all the shouting was about. Still, since all the critics raved about the book, I had to consider that perhaps my disaffection for it was due to something lacking in myself rather than in the book itself. Mostly, I am not even tempted to read short stories, but, over the years, there is one short story writer that I have been drawn to and about whose writings I have been curious, even though I have to admit I've never actually read any of them. Now that that writer has been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Literature , it becomes even more urgent that I rise above my unreasoning prejudice and read the works of Alice Munro. From what I know of Munro's writing, her the...

Now tell me honestly, did you know the name Mo Yan before it was announced last week that he had won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature? I freely admit that I did not know of this, apparently quite famous, Chinese author. Perhaps that is really not so surprising since there are evidently wonderful writers from the North American continent whose acquaintance I have not yet made. In fact, I'm meeting new ones all the time . It's an exciting experience for this constant reader. I was interested to read about Mr. Mo and also about China's reaction to his selection. It seems that he is quite a popular literary light in his own country, in spite of the fact that much of his writing encompasses criticism of Chinese history and of contemporary Chinese culture. He is embraced by the Chinese Communist government and his winning of the Nobel Prize set off a national celebration. It was considered a major cultural accomplishment and affirmation and it was a boost to the national psyc...