Two Nobel Prizes For Literature Will Be Awarded Later This Year

I discovered an article in The Guardian titled, Nobel prize in literature to be awarded twice this year. In the article I read the following:

Two Nobel prizes in literature will be awarded this year, to make up for the lack of one in 2018 while the scandal-plagued Swedish Academy attempted to get its house in order, it was announced on Tuesday.

Last year’s Nobel was withheld for the first time since 1949 after the Swedish Academy, the august institution that selects the winners, was hit with a sexual misconduct scandal that saw the husband of one member imprisoned for rape. Following a meeting on Tuesday, the Nobel Foundation, which executes Alfred Nobel’s will, announced that “the steps that the Swedish Academy has taken and intends to take will create good opportunities for restoring trust”, and that laureates for both 2018 and 2019 will therefore be announced this autumn.

The most significant change to the prize is the appointment of five independent and external members, who will help the Swedish Academy to select the Nobel laureates “for the next few years”. How the winner is chosen has long been a closely guarded secret: what is known is that around 200 nominations are reviewed by the Academy in February, with a shortlist decided on by May and the final five authors studied over the summer. Archives detailing the jury’s reasoning are only opened to the outside world 50 years after the event.

It's wonderful to learn that there will be two Nobel prizes awarded this year to make up for the one missed last year due to the sexual misconduct scandal. It was also wonderful to learn what actions are being taken to instill public confidence in how the Nobel Prize for Literature is selected and also to learn more about the selection process for choosing a winner. Click on the above link to read the full story.