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Olga Tokarczuk and Peter Handke Awarded Nobel Prizes in Literature Olga Tokarczuk and Peter Handke Awarded Nobel Prizes in Literature
(about 2 hours later)
Olga Tokarczuk, a Polish author, and Peter Handke, an Austrian writer, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday, the Swedish Academy announced at a ceremony in Stockholm. The Polish author Olga Tokarczuk and the Austrian writer Peter Handke were awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday, the Swedish Academy announced at a ceremony in Stockholm.
Mr. Handke won this year’s prize, while Ms. Tokarczuk won the 2018 prize, which had been postponed for a year because of a scandal at the academy. Mr. Handke, an acclaimed novelist and playwright, won this year’s prize, while Ms. Tokarczuk, an experimental novelist and poet, won the 2018 prize, which had been postponed for a year because of a scandal at the academy.
Ms. Tokarczuk is best known for her 2014 historical novel “Księgi Jakubowe” or “The Book of Jacob,” centered in the Hapsburg and Ottoman Empires and focused on the life of Jacob Frank, an 18th century Polish leader of a Jewish splinter group that converted to Islam and then Catholicism. “She has in this work showed the supreme capacity of the novel to represent a case almost beyond human understanding,” Nobel officials wrote in their citation. Both authors are well-known figures in Europe, renowned for their work but also for their sometimes polarizing political views. Ms. Tokarczuk has been an outspoken critic of right-wing nationalists in Poland, who have branded her a traitor. Her Polish publisher at one point hired bodyguards to protect her.
In 2018, she got renewed prominence after winning the Man Booker International Prize for translated fiction for “Flights,” an experimental novel based on stories of travel. Mr. Handke has been criticized for his support of Slobodan Milosevic, the former leader of Yugoslavia who was widely seen as a war criminal and the driving force behind the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Mr. Handke attended Mr. Milosevic’s war crimes trial at The Hague and delivered a eulogy at his funeral. In an interview in 2006, he said of Milosevic: “I think he was a rather tragic man. Not a hero, but a tragic human being. I am a writer and not a judge.”
Mr. Handke’s debut novel, “Die Hornissen” was published in 1966, and with that and his play “Publikumsbeschimpfung,” or “Offending the Audience,” he made his mark on the literature world. In the same interview, he said he did not expect to ever win the Nobel Prize because of the controversy. “When I was younger I cared,” he said. “Now I think it’s finished for me after my expressions about Yugoslavia.”
In the decades since, he has become one of the most influential writers in Europe. The Swedish Academy cited his “influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience.” “The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded on literary and aesthetic grounds,” Mats Malm, an academy member and its permanent secretary, said when asked about the academy’s selection of Mr. Handke. “It is not in the Academy’s mandate to balance literary quality against political considerations.”
Mr. Handke was born in 1942 in southern Austria to a German father and a Slovenian mother. He spent part of his childhood living in war-scarred Berlin and went on to study law at the University of Graz. Ms. Tokarczuk found out she received the prize while on the road in Germany. In a telephone interview with the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, she said: “When I found out, I pull over. I still can’t wrap my head around it. I am also very happy that Peter Handke has received the award with me, I value him very much. It’s great that the Swedish Academy appreciated literature from the central part of Europe. I am glad that we are still holding on.”
But when his first book was published, he dropped out of school and embarked in earnest on his literary career. More than 50 years later, his body of work includes novels, essays, screenplays and other dramatic works. He has been based in Chaville, France, since 1990. In awarding the prizes to two renowned European authors, the academy seemed to brush off criticism it has received in the past that the prize had become too Western and Eurocentric. Since the literature prize was first awarded in 1901, the vast majority of winners have been European and English-language authors.
His decades of writing, published originally in German, including the novella “A Sorrow Beyond Dreams,” based on his mother’s death, drew critical acclaim. Michael Wood, reviewing the book for The New York Times, called it “a major memorial to a host of buried German and Austrian lives” and “the best piece of new writing I have seen in several years.” Women have also been underrepresented historically. Ms. Tokarczuk is the 15th woman to win the Nobel for literature, out of 116 laureates.
But his controversial friendship with Slobodan Milosevic, the former leader of Yugoslavia who was widely seen as the driving force behind the Balkan wars of the 1990s, has also made him well-known in Europe. Some observers in the literary world anticipated that the academy would select at least one non-European writer this year, perhaps awarding the prize to one of the often-cited favorites, among them the Kenyan novelist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, the Chinese writer Can Xue or the Syrian poet Adunis.
Mr. Handke attended Mr. Milosevic’s war crimes trial at The Hague and delivered a eulogy at his funeral. In an interview in 2006, he said of Milosevic: “I think he was a rather tragic man. Not a hero, but a tragic human being. I am a writer and not a judge.” In a statement this year, Anders Olsson, who leads the academy’s literature committee, conceded that diversity should be more of a priority and indicated that the committee would take geographic diversity and gender into account in making its selection.
In the same interview, he said he did not expect the Nobel Prize because of the controversy. “When I was younger I cared,” he said. “Now I think it’s finished for me after my expressions about Yugoslavia.” “Previously we had a more, let’s say, Eurocentric perspective of literature and now we are looking all over the world,” he said in a video interview. “Previously it was much more male-oriented. Now we have so many female writers that are really great, so the prize and the whole process with the prize has been intensified and is much broader in its scope.”
A spokeswoman for the Swedish Academy said in a text message that none of its members were available to comment on whether his political views had been discussed, and whether he was an appropriate recipient of the prize. The academy postponed last year’s prize amid a scandal that involved a husband of an academy member who was convicted of rape and accused of leaking winners’ names — a crisis that led to the departure of board members and required the intervention of the king of Sweden. The academy made several organizational changes following the scandal, including appointing five independent experts to help choose winners.
Ms. Tokarczuk was born in 1962 in Sulechow, Poland, the daughter of two teachers. Her father was also a school librarian, and it was in that library that Ms. Tokarczuk found her love of literature, voraciously devouring book after book. A group of Swedish cultural figures even set up a substitute award, the New Academy Prize, to fill the gap and show a winner could be chosen in an open fashion, in contrast to the academy’s secret workings. Their laureate was Maryse Conde, a writer of historical novels from Guadeloupe.
She went on to study psychology at the University of Warsaw and published her first book in 1993 — “The Journey of the Book-People” — a fictional tale of characters in search of a mysterious book in the Pyrenees, set in 17th-century France and Spain. The book was awarded the Polish Publisher’s Prize for a debut novel that year. Mr. Handke was born in 1942 in southern Austria to a German father and a mother from an area that was formerly in Yugoslavia, now in Slovenia. Both Handke’s biological father and his stepfather served in the Wehrmacht, the German army. After his mother’s suicide in 1971, Mr. Handke made sporadic visits to Yugoslavia.
He spent part of his childhood living in war-scarred Berlin and went on to study law at the University of Graz. He dropped out in 1965 after a publisher accepted his first novel, “The Hornets.” His body of work now includes novels, essays, screenplays and other dramatic works. He has been based in Chaville, a suburb of Paris, since 1990.
Literary critics have described his work as avant-garde, but Mr. Handke has dismissed that label, branding himself a “conservative classical writer.”
His decades of writing, published originally in German, include “A Sorrow Beyond Dreams,” a critically acclaimed novella based on his mother’s death. Michael Wood, reviewing the book in 1975 for The New York Times, called it “a major memorial to a host of buried German and Austrian lives” and “the best piece of new writing I have seen in several years.”
But Mr. Handke’s friendship with Slobodan Milosevic and his comments that seemed to downplay the Serbian massacres of Bosnian Muslims drew condemnation. In 2006, he was selected as the winner of Germany’s prestigious Heinrich Heine Prize, but it was revoked amid public outcry. In response, Mr. Handke asserted that he “never denied or played down, not to speak of sanctioned, any of the massacres in Yugoslavia.” When Mr. Handke was awarded the International Ibsen Award in 2014, he was met with protesters at the awards ceremony.
In the United States, Farrar, Straus and Giroux has published translations of Mr. Handke’s work since 1970, starting with his collection “Kaspar and Other Plays,” followed in 1972 by the novel “The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick.” Since then, FSG has released more than 15 books by Mr. Handke.
“Handke is one of the great German prose stylists, who has spent his career exploring both the natural world and the world of human consciousness with exquisite precision, humor, and courage,” FSG’s president, Jonathan Galassi, said in a statement.
Ms. Tokarczuk was born in 1962 in Sulechow, Poland, the daughter of two teachers. Her father was also a school librarian, and it was in that library that Ms. Tokarczuk found her love of literature, devouring book after book.
She went on to study psychology at the University of Warsaw and worked as a clinical psychologist but felt she wasn’t cut out for the work, noting in one interview that she quit because she realized she was “much more neurotic than my clients.”
Ms. Tokarczuk published her first book, a volume of poetry, in 1989, and won acclaim in 1993, when she published her first novel, “The Journey of the Book-People,” a fictional tale of characters in search of a mysterious book in the Pyrenees, set in 17th-century France and Spain. The book was awarded the Polish Publisher’s Prize for a debut novel that year.
But her real breakthrough is considered to be her third novel, “Prawiek i inne czasy” or “Primeval and Other Times.” First published in 1996, it tells the story of three generations of a Polish family, from 1914 to the beginnings of Solidarity in 1980.But her real breakthrough is considered to be her third novel, “Prawiek i inne czasy” or “Primeval and Other Times.” First published in 1996, it tells the story of three generations of a Polish family, from 1914 to the beginnings of Solidarity in 1980.
Ms. Tokarczuk is a prominent figure in Poland, associated with the opposition to the right-wing Law and Justice party. In January, she wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times on the state of the country after the murder of a leading liberal mayor in the country. “I worry about our immediate future,” she said. In 2018, she became the first Polish author to win the Man Booker International Prize, for her novel, “Flights,” which was translated by Jennifer Croft and published in the United States last year by Riverhead.
Asked this month if he’d read Ms. Tokarczuk’s work, Piotr Glinski, the Polish culture minister, replied that he had tried, but had never finished any of her books. “Her work is simultaneously universal and very Polish,” Ms. Croft said.
A series of 116 vignettes about characters who are in transit or displaced, the book was praised as a literary antidote to cultural isolationism, xenophobia and nationalism.
“Fluidity, mobility, illusoriness — these are precisely the qualities that make us civilized,” Ms. Tokarczuk writes. “Barbarians don’t travel. They simply go to destinations or conduct raids.”
In an interview with the Times, Ms. Tokarczuk said she started the novel more than a decade ago, well before Brexit and other nationalist movements took hold throughout Europe. “I wrote this book when the world was looking to be open for everybody,” she said. “Now we’re seeing how the European Union will probably become weakened by the policies of countries like Poland and Hungary, which are focused on their borders once again.”
She also referenced increasingly severe immigration policies in the United States. “Twelve years ago there was no mention of the idea of walls or borders, which were originally adopted by totalitarian systems,” she said. “Back then I must admit that I was sure that we had put totalitarianism behind us.”
Ms. Tokarczuk is a prominent and outspoken figure in Poland, known for her opposition to the right-wing Law and Justice party. She faced a backlash after the publication of her novel, “The Books of Jacob,” which is set in 18th century Poland and celebrates the country’s cultural diversity, and won Poland’s top literary prize, the Nike Award, in 2015. Though it was embraced by critics and readers, the novel drew a sharp rebuke from nationalist groups, and Ms. Tokarczuk was subjected to a harassment campaign, receiving death threats and calls for her deportation. In January, she wrote an opinion piece for the Times on the state of the country after the murder of a leading liberal mayor in the country. “I worry about our immediate future,” she said.
Asked this month if he’d read Ms. Tokarczuk’s work, Piotr Glinski, the Polish culture minister, replied that he had tried but had never finished any of her books.
On Thursday, Mr. Glinski congratulated Ms. Tokarczuk. “It is proof that Polish culture is appreciated all over the world,” he wrote on Twitter. Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council and former prime minister of Poland, also offered his congratulations in a tweet. He added that he had read all her books from start to finish.On Thursday, Mr. Glinski congratulated Ms. Tokarczuk. “It is proof that Polish culture is appreciated all over the world,” he wrote on Twitter. Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council and former prime minister of Poland, also offered his congratulations in a tweet. He added that he had read all her books from start to finish.
Until now, no one.
Last year’s prize was postponed after a scandal involving a husband of an academy member who has been convicted of rape — a crisis that led to the departure of several board members and required the intervention of the king of Sweden. Read about 2017’s winner, Kazuo Ishiguro.
A group of Swedish cultural figures even set up a substitute award, the New Academy Prize, to fill the gap and show a winner could be chosen in an open fashion, in contrast to the academy’s secret workings. Their laureate was Maryse Conde, a writer of historical novels from Guadeloupe.
The academy made several organizational changes following the scandal, including appointing five independent experts to help choose winners. That was good enough for the Nobel Foundation.
But some observers think not enough has been done. “The Swedish Academy needs to change more,” said Alexandra Pascalidou, a Swedish journalist who set up the New Academy Prize, in a telephone interview. “It needs more inclusion, more diversity, more openness.”
The academy should not have awarded the 2018 prize, Ms. Pascalidou added, because it will forever be tainted by the scandal. “It’s very sad for whoever wins,” she said.
Far from it. Authors have shared the prize on four occasions, most recently in 1974 when the academy gave the prize to two Swedish writers, Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson.Far from it. Authors have shared the prize on four occasions, most recently in 1974 when the academy gave the prize to two Swedish writers, Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson.
That award caused a scandal, too, because the two were members of the academy. “Mutual admiration is one thing, but this smells almost like embezzlement,” wrote Sven Delblanc, another Swedish author.That award caused a scandal, too, because the two were members of the academy. “Mutual admiration is one thing, but this smells almost like embezzlement,” wrote Sven Delblanc, another Swedish author.
Some people will always find the choice of winner scandalous, or at least not to their taste. In 2016, Bob Dylan won, the first musician to do so. His award prompted weeks of debate about whether a songwriter should win a literature award. Jodi Picoult, the novelist, wrote on Twitter: “I’m happy for Bob Dylan, #ButDoesThisMeanICanWinAGrammy?”Some people will always find the choice of winner scandalous, or at least not to their taste. In 2016, Bob Dylan won, the first musician to do so. His award prompted weeks of debate about whether a songwriter should win a literature award. Jodi Picoult, the novelist, wrote on Twitter: “I’m happy for Bob Dylan, #ButDoesThisMeanICanWinAGrammy?”
The following year’s prize was a more conventional choice. It went to Kazuo Ishiguro, the British writer best known for his novel “The Remains of the Day,” about a butler serving an English lord in the years before World War II.The following year’s prize was a more conventional choice. It went to Kazuo Ishiguro, the British writer best known for his novel “The Remains of the Day,” about a butler serving an English lord in the years before World War II.
The prize for medicine and physiology was awarded to William G. Kaelin Jr., Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza for their work in discovering how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.The prize for medicine and physiology was awarded to William G. Kaelin Jr., Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza for their work in discovering how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.
The prize for physics went to three scientists who transformed our view of the cosmos: James Peebles shared half of the prize for theories that explained how the universe swirled into galaxies and everything we see in the night sky, and much that we cannot see. Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz were jointly recognized for the other half of the prize for their discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star in our galaxy.The prize for physics went to three scientists who transformed our view of the cosmos: James Peebles shared half of the prize for theories that explained how the universe swirled into galaxies and everything we see in the night sky, and much that we cannot see. Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz were jointly recognized for the other half of the prize for their discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star in our galaxy.
The prize for chemistry was given to three scientists — John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino — who developed lithium-ion batteries, the energy storage systems that have revolutionized portable electronics. Larger lithium-ion batteries have given rise to electric cars that can be driven on long trips, while the miniaturized versions are used in lifesaving medical devices like cardiac defibrillators.The prize for chemistry was given to three scientists — John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino — who developed lithium-ion batteries, the energy storage systems that have revolutionized portable electronics. Larger lithium-ion batteries have given rise to electric cars that can be driven on long trips, while the miniaturized versions are used in lifesaving medical devices like cardiac defibrillators.
The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday in Norway. Read about last year’s winners, Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege.The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday in Norway. Read about last year’s winners, Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege.
The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science will be announced Monday next week in Sweden. Read about last year’s winners, William Nordhaus and Paul Romer.The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science will be announced Monday next week in Sweden. Read about last year’s winners, William Nordhaus and Paul Romer.
Megan Specia contributed reporting. Megan Specia and Joanna Berendt contributed reporting.