The New Academy Prize in Literature
"grand storyteller whose authorship belongs to world literature, describing the ravages of colonialism and the postcolonial chaos in a language which is both precise and overwhelming."
Date12 October 2018 (2018-10-12)
LocationStockholm
CountrySweden
Presented bySwedish Library Association
Hosted byAlexandra Pascalidou, Bianca Kronlöf, and Lo Kauppi
Reward(s)SEK 320 000
2018 laureateMaryse Condé

The New Academy Prize in Literature was established in 2018 as an alternative to the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was not awarded in 2018 and instead postponed until 2019.[1] The winner was announced on 12 October 2018[2] given to the Guadeloupan-French author Maryse Condé who was described by the jury as a "grand storyteller whose authorship belongs to world literature, describing the ravages of colonialism and the postcolonial chaos in a language which is both precise and overwhelming."[3]

The New Academy was formed as non-profit organization in 2018, not affiliated with either the Nobel Foundation or the Swedish Academy, and was dissolved in December 2018.[4][5]

Nominations

Following an open invitation to the world, calling for public votes for 47 candidates nominated by Swedish librarians, the New Academy announced that the four finalists for the prize were Maryse Condé, Neil Gaiman, Haruki Murakami, and Kim Thúy.[6] There were 12 nominees each from Sweden and the United States, 5 from United Kingdom, 3 each from France and Canada, and 2 each from Italy and Nigeria.

On 17 September 2018, Murakami requested that his nomination be withdrawn, saying he wanted to "concentrate on writing, away from media attention."[7]

List of nominees for the New Academy Prize in Literature
No. Nominee Country Genre(s)
1 Maryse Condé (b. 1937)  France novel, drama, essays
2 Haruki Murakami (b. 1949)  Japan novel, short story, essays
3 Neil Gaiman (b. 1960)  United Kingdom novel, short story, poetry, screenplay
3 Kim Thúy (b. 1968)  Vietnam
 Canada		 novel
5 Margaret Atwood (b. 1939)  Canada novel, short story, poetry, essays, literary criticism
6 Paul Auster (b. 1947)  United States novel, short story, essays, memoirs, poetry, screenplay, translation
7 Don DeLillo (b. 1936)  United States novel, short story, drama, screenplay, essays
8 Kerstin Ekman (b. 1933)  Sweden novel
9 Jamaica Kincaid (b. 1949)  Antigua and Barbuda
 United States		 novel, essays, short story
10 David Levithan (b. 1972)  United States novel, short story, essays
11 Cormac McCarthy (b. 1933)  United States novel, drama, screenplay, short story
12 Ian McEwan (b. 1948)  United Kingdom novel, short story, screenplay, drama
13 Joyce Carol Oates (b. 1938)  United States novel, drama, poetry, short story, essays, literary criticism
14 Nnedi Okorafor (b. 1974)  Nigeria
 United States		 novel, short story
15 Sofi Oksanen (b. 1977)  Finland novel, drama, poetry, essays
16 Thomas Pynchon (b. 1937)  United States novel, short story, essays
17 Meg Rosoff (b. 1956)  United Kingdom novel
18 J. K. Rowling (b. 1965)  United Kingdom novel, screenplay
19 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (b. 1938)  Kenya novel, drama, short story, essays
20 Jeanette Winterson (b. 1920)  United Kingdom novel, short story, memoirs
21 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (b. 1977)  Nigeria novel, short story, essays
22 Johannes Anyuru (b. 1979)  Sweden novel, poetry
23 Silvia Avallone (b. 1984)  Italy novel, poetry
24 Nina Bouraoui (b. 1967)  France novel, short story, songwriting
25 Anne Carson (b. 1950)  Canada poetry, essays
26 Inger Edelfeldt (b. 1956)  Sweden novel, poetry
27 Elena Ferrante (b. 1943)  Italy novel
28 Jens Ganman (b. 1971)  Sweden novel, essays, songwriting, screenplay
29 Siri Hustvedt (b. 1955)  United States novel, poetry, essays
30 Jenny Jägerfeld (b. 1974)  Sweden novel
31 Jonas Hassen Khemiri (b. 1978)  Sweden novel, short story, drama, essays
32 Édouard Louis (b. 1992)  France novel, essays
33 Sara Lövestam (b. 1980)  Sweden novel, short story
34 Ulf Lundell (b. 1949)  Sweden novel, poetry, songwriting
35 Amos Oz (1939–2018)  Israel novel, short story, essays
36 Sara Paborn (b. 1972)  Sweden novel
37 Agneta Pleijel (b. 1940)  Sweden novel, poetry, essays, literary criticism
38 Marilynne Robinson (b. 1943)  United States novel, essays
39 Arundhati Roy (b. 1961)  India novel, essays
40 Jessica Schiefauer (b. 1978)  Sweden novel
41 Jón Kalman Stefánsson (b. 1963)  Iceland novel, poetry
42 Patti Smith (b. 1946)  United States poetry, songwriting
43 Zadie Smith (b. 1975)  United Kingdom novel, short story, drama, essays
44 Peter Stamm (b. 1963)   Switzerland novel, essays, drama, translation
45 Sara Stridsberg (b. 1972)  Sweden novel, drama, essays
46 Donna Tartt (b. 1963)  United States novel
47 Olga Tokarczuk (b. 1962)  Poland novel, short story, poetry, essay, screenplay

The winner

The New Academy Prize in Literature was awarded to Maryse Condé.[8] The jury said in its motivation:

Maryse Condé is a grand storyteller. Her authorship belongs to world literature. In her work, she describes the ravages of colonialism and the postcolonial chaos in a language which is both precise and overwhelming. The magic the dream and the terror is as also love constantly present. Fiction and reality overlap each other and people live as much in an imagined world with long and complicated traditions as the ongoing present. Respectfully and with humour she narrates the postcolonial insanity disruption and abuse but also human solidarity and warmth The dead live in her stories closely to the living in a multitudinous world where gender race and class are constantly turned over in new constellations.[3]

Maryse Condé received the prize on 10 December 2018 at a ceremony at Berns salonger in Stockholm. The prize sum, 320 000 Swedish crowns, was created through crowdfunding and sponsorship.[3]

Reactions

The establishment of the prize caused several negative reactions in Swedish media, some criticizing the New Academy's intention to award "morally good literature" and cultural journalist Göran Sommardal called the prize "pathetic".[9] Swedish author Ulf Lundell, himself one of the 47 nominees for the prize, said he thought that "no author of any self-preservation will accept it".[9] Internationally reactions were more positive, Alison Flood in The Guardian said: "Perhaps the most striking detail of all is found not in the names, but the fine print. The New Academy is enforcing a gender quota on the shortlist stage, stipulating that it comprises two men and two women. How different this is to the Nobel, which counts among its 114 winners just 14 women", and also praised the nomination process of public votes: "How open. How inclusive".[10]

References

  1. ↑ Marshall, Alex (July 13, 2018). "An Alternative to the Nobel Prize in Literature, Judged by You". The New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  2. ↑ Schaub, Michael (September 17, 2018). "Haruki Murakami takes his name out of the running for alternative literature Nobel". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 "Maryse Condé accepted The New Academy Prize in Literature of SEK 320 000 in Stockholm". The New Academy Press Release. 9 December 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  4. ↑ Flood, Alison (July 2, 2018). "Alternative Nobel literature prize planned in Sweden". The Guardian. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  5. ↑ Erika H. Kern (Aug 29, 2018). "The alternative Nobel Prize in Literature". bookriot.com. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018.
  6. ↑ "The finalists: The New Academy Prize in Literature 2018". Den Nya Akademien (The New Academy). Archived from the original on October 22, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Japan's Haruki Murakami withdraws from consideration for alternative Nobel award". The Japan Times. September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  8. ↑ Maryse Condé Wins an Alternative to the Literature Nobel in a Scandal-Plagued Year, nytimes.com. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Kritik mot Nya Akademiens litteraturpris" (in Swedish). SVT Nyheter. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  10. ↑ Flood, Alison (12 July 2018). "The Alternative Nobel: vote opens for a surprising new literature prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
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