Sweden's Nobel academy will skip the literature prize this year amid a sexual misconduct scandal
The Swedish Academy announced Friday that it will not award the Nobel Prize in literature this year, but rather announce the 2018 winner next year, "in parallel with the naming of the 2019 laureate," citing a desire to "safeguard the long-term reputation of the Nobel Prize" amid a sexual harassment scandal that has thrown the literature academy into chaos. "The crisis in the Swedish Academy has adversely affected the Nobel Prize," the academy said in a statement. "Their decision underscores the seriousness of the situation." The 18-member committee, minus the seven who have suspended their lifetime membership, made the decision in a meeting Thursday.
The scandal centers around photographer Jean-Claude Arnault, a major Swedish cultural figure who is accused of sexually assaulting or harassing 18 women, leaking the name of at least seven laureates, and, Sweden's Svenska Dagbladet newspaper reported last Saturday, groping Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria in 2006. Arnault, who denies the allegations, is married to poet Katarina Frostenson, a member of the academy who was removed after the 18 allegations of sexual misconduct, many tied to the Swedish Academy building, surfaced last November. The secretive academy has faced criticism for its handling of the allegations.
The academy has refrained from handing out a literature Nobel just seven other times, the last being in 1943, due to world wars and, in 1935, because no writer was deemed worthy. It said Friday that the other 2018 Nobels will be handed out as normal.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Fallout: one of the 'most faithful – and best – video game adaptations'
The Week Recommends This 'genre-bending' new Amazon series is set in a post-apocalyptic wilderness where survivors shelter below ground
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
'Test of faith for Trump Media's investors'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Will Iran attack hinder support for Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Pro-Kyiv allies cry 'hypocrisy' and 'double standards' even as the US readies new support package
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published