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The Guardian/Observer, UK
Oct 9 2005
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Nobel split delays book prize
Alex Duval Smith in Stockholm
Sunday October 9, 2005
The Observer
The secretive group of intellectuals who award the Nobel Prize for
literature have delayed their decision for at least a week amid
reports of a split over honouring the controversial Turkish author,
Orhan Pamuk.
For the first time in at least 10 years, the literature prize was
announced neither in the run-up to, nor in the same week as the four
other main Nobel awards - medicine, physics, chemistry and peace.
Each marks the pinnacle of achievement in its field and is worth 10
million Swedish kronor (£730,000).
The suspected row over Pamuk - which is officially denied - comes
amid revelations about the secretive workings of the committee that,
since 1901, has chosen Nobel winners. The literature award is now due
to be announced on Thursday.
Pamuk's latest novel, Snow, has been widely acclaimed for addressing
Turkey's internal clash of cultures. His earlier work, My Name is
Red, established his literary prowess. But the author is
controversial for an assertion he made in a newspaper interview
earlier this year that the Turkish state was guilty of a 20th century
genocide against Armenians and Kurds. He faces trial for the comments
in his country on 16 December.
Observers of the Nobel process say that, given that the European
Union has decided to engage talks on Turkey's entry without
condemning the Pamuk trial, some members of the Swedish Academy,
which chooses the literature laureate, feel politically exposed.
'If the Pamuk row is real, the academy's reluctance is not based on a
fear of being political, or controversial,' said Svante Weyler of
Nordstedts publishers, 'but on concern that literature must not be
overshadowed by politics.'
Others believe a split in the academy over Pamuk could be based on a
long-entrenched principle of avoiding fashions and fads. Pamuk is
widely acclaimed but, at the age of 53, is considered on the young
side. 'The Nobel Prize must never go to the book of the season. It
exists to reward a life's work,' said poet and literary critic Eva
Ström.
The suspected row over Pamuk bears the hallmarks of the 'Rushdie
affair' - a conflict whose impact can still be felt in the Swedish
Academy today.
In February 1989, author and academy member Kerstin Ekman called on
her fellow elders to issue a statement condemning the fatwa against
Salman Rushdie. They refused, prompting Ekman and author Lars
Gyllensten to resign from the Nobel selection process.
The remaining 16 academy members are understood at this stage to have
reduced their choice to two candidates. The winner will be chosen by
majority vote.
Some observers have suggested the delay in announcing the 2005 prize
might not be related to Pamuk, and that academy members may be
grappling with a non-fiction candidate or an essayist.
Earlier this year, academy head and committee member Horace Engdahl
suggested it was time to 'broaden' the literature prize stating that
'It is important that the prize develops as literature develops.'
His comments have been taken to mean that a journalist such as
Poland's Ryszard Kapuscinski could be considered. In the same vein,
philosopher Bertrand Russell won it in 1950 and Winston Churchill was
given the literature prize three years later for his historical
writings. The favourite to win in Stockholm literary circles is
Syrian poet Ali Ahmad Said, also known as Adonis.
Oct 9 2005
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian <[email protected]>
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 -- ListProcessor(tm) by CREN
Nobel split delays book prize
Alex Duval Smith in Stockholm
Sunday October 9, 2005
The Observer
The secretive group of intellectuals who award the Nobel Prize for
literature have delayed their decision for at least a week amid
reports of a split over honouring the controversial Turkish author,
Orhan Pamuk.
For the first time in at least 10 years, the literature prize was
announced neither in the run-up to, nor in the same week as the four
other main Nobel awards - medicine, physics, chemistry and peace.
Each marks the pinnacle of achievement in its field and is worth 10
million Swedish kronor (£730,000).
The suspected row over Pamuk - which is officially denied - comes
amid revelations about the secretive workings of the committee that,
since 1901, has chosen Nobel winners. The literature award is now due
to be announced on Thursday.
Pamuk's latest novel, Snow, has been widely acclaimed for addressing
Turkey's internal clash of cultures. His earlier work, My Name is
Red, established his literary prowess. But the author is
controversial for an assertion he made in a newspaper interview
earlier this year that the Turkish state was guilty of a 20th century
genocide against Armenians and Kurds. He faces trial for the comments
in his country on 16 December.
Observers of the Nobel process say that, given that the European
Union has decided to engage talks on Turkey's entry without
condemning the Pamuk trial, some members of the Swedish Academy,
which chooses the literature laureate, feel politically exposed.
'If the Pamuk row is real, the academy's reluctance is not based on a
fear of being political, or controversial,' said Svante Weyler of
Nordstedts publishers, 'but on concern that literature must not be
overshadowed by politics.'
Others believe a split in the academy over Pamuk could be based on a
long-entrenched principle of avoiding fashions and fads. Pamuk is
widely acclaimed but, at the age of 53, is considered on the young
side. 'The Nobel Prize must never go to the book of the season. It
exists to reward a life's work,' said poet and literary critic Eva
Ström.
The suspected row over Pamuk bears the hallmarks of the 'Rushdie
affair' - a conflict whose impact can still be felt in the Swedish
Academy today.
In February 1989, author and academy member Kerstin Ekman called on
her fellow elders to issue a statement condemning the fatwa against
Salman Rushdie. They refused, prompting Ekman and author Lars
Gyllensten to resign from the Nobel selection process.
The remaining 16 academy members are understood at this stage to have
reduced their choice to two candidates. The winner will be chosen by
majority vote.
Some observers have suggested the delay in announcing the 2005 prize
might not be related to Pamuk, and that academy members may be
grappling with a non-fiction candidate or an essayist.
Earlier this year, academy head and committee member Horace Engdahl
suggested it was time to 'broaden' the literature prize stating that
'It is important that the prize develops as literature develops.'
His comments have been taken to mean that a journalist such as
Poland's Ryszard Kapuscinski could be considered. In the same vein,
philosopher Bertrand Russell won it in 1950 and Winston Churchill was
given the literature prize three years later for his historical
writings. The favourite to win in Stockholm literary circles is
Syrian poet Ali Ahmad Said, also known as Adonis.