| 2010 |
Mario Vargas Llosa |
"for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the
individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat" |
| 2009 |
Herta Müller |
"who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the
landscape of the dispossessed" |
| 2008 |
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio |
"author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of
a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization" |
| 2007 |
Doris Lessing |
"that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary
power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny" |
| 2006 |
Orhan Pamuk |
"who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered
new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures" |
| 2005 |
Harold Pinter |
"who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry
into oppression's closed rooms" |
| 2004 |
Elfriede Jelinek |
"for her musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that
with extraordinary linguistic zeal reveal the absurdity of society's clichés and
their subjugating power" |
| 2003 |
J.M. Coetzee |
"who in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider"
|
| 2002 |
Imre Kertész |
"for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the
barbaric arbitrariness of history" |
| 2001 |
V.S. Naipaul |
"for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works
that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories" |
| 2000 |
Gao Xingjian |
"for an œuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity,
which has opened new paths for the Chinese novel and drama" |
| 1999 |
Günter Grass |
"whose frolicsome black fables portray the forgotten face of history" |
| 1998 |
José Saramago |
"who with parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony continually
enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality" |
| 1997 |
Dario Fo |
"who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding
the dignity of the downtrodden" |
| 1996 |
Wislawa Szymborska |
"for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological
context to come to light in fragments of human reality" |
| 1995 |
Seamus Heaney |
"for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles
and the living past" |
| 1994 |
Kenzaburo Oe |
"who with poetic force creates an imagined world, where life and myth condense
to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today" |
| 1993 |
Toni Morrison |
"who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life
to an essential aspect of American reality" |
| 1992 |
Derek Walcott |
"for a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision,
the outcome of a multicultural commitment" |
| 1991 |
Nadine Gordimer |
"who through her magnificent epic writing has - in the words of Alfred Nobel
- been of very great benefit to humanity" |
| 1990 |
Octavio Paz |
"for impassioned writing with wide horizons, characterized by sensuous intelligence
and humanistic integrity" |
| 1989 |
Camilo José Cela |
"for a rich and intensive prose, which with restrained compassion forms a challenging
vision of man's vulnerability" |
| 1988 |
Naguib Mahfouz |
"who, through works rich in nuance - now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively
ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind"
|
| 1987 |
Joseph Brodsky |
"for an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic
intensity" |
| 1986 |
Wole Soyinka |
"who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama
of existence |
| 1985 |
Claude Simon |
"who in his novel combines the poet's and the painter's creativeness with a
deepened awareness of time in the depiction of the human condition" |
| 1984 |
Jaroslav Seifert |
"for his poetry which endowed with freshness, sensuality and rich inventiveness
provides a liberating image of the indomitable spirit and versatility of man"
|
| 1983 |
William Golding |
"for his novels which, with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the
diversity and universality of myth, illuminate the human condition in the world
of today" |
| 1982 |
Gabriel García Márquez |
"for his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic
are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent's
life and conflicts" |
| 1981 |
Elias Canetti |
"for writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas and artistic power"
|
| 1980 |
Czeslaw Milosz |
"who with uncompromising clear-sightedness voices man's exposed condition in
a world of severe conflicts" |
| 1979 |
Odysseus Elytis |
"for his poetry, which, against the background of Greek tradition, depicts with
sensuous strength and intellectual clear-sightedness modern man's struggle for freedom
and creativeness" |
| 1978 |
Isaac Bashevis Singer |
"for his impassioned narrative art which, with roots in a Polish-Jewish cultural
tradition, brings universal human conditions to life" |
| 1977 |
Vicente Aleixandre |
"for a creative poetic writing which illuminates man's condition in the cosmos
and in present-day society, at the same time representing the great renewal of the
traditions of Spanish poetry beween the wars" |
| 1976 |
Saul Bellow |
"for the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that
are combined in his work" |
| 1975 |
Eugenio Montale |
"for his distinctive poetry which, with great artistic sensitivity, has interpreted
human values under the sign of an outlook on life with no illusions" |
| 1974 |
Eyvind Johnson |
"for a narrative art, far-seeing in lands and ages, in the service of freedom"
|
| 1974 |
Harry Martinson |
"for writings that catch the dewdrop and reflect the cosmos" |
| 1973 |
Patrick White |
"for an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent
into literature" |
| 1972 |
Heinrich Böll |
"for his writing which through its combination of a broad perspective on his
time and a sensitive skill in characterization has contributed to a renewal of German
literature" |
| 1971 |
Pablo Neruda |
"for a poetry that with the action of an elemental force brings alive a continent's
destiny and dreams" |
| 1970 |
Alexandr Solzhenitsyn |
"for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions
of Russian literature" |
| 1969 |
Samuel Beckett |
"for his writing, which - in new forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution
of modern man acquires its elevation" |
| 1968 |
Yasunari Kawabata |
"for his narrative mastery, which with great sensibility expresses the essence
of the Japanese mind" |
| 1967 |
Miguel Angel Asturias |
"for his vivid literary achievement, deep-rooted in the national traits and
traditions of Indian peoples of Latin America" |
| 1966 |
Samuel Agnon |
"for his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of
the Jewish people" |
| 1966 |
Nelly Sachs |
"for her outstanding lyrical and dramatic writing, which interprets Israel's
destiny with touching strength" |
| 1965 |
Mikhail Sholokhov |
"for the artistic power and integrity with which, in his epic of the Don, he
has given expression to a historic phase in the life of the Russian people" |
| 1964 |
Jean-Paul Sartre |
"for his work which, rich in ideas and filled with the spirit of freedom and
the quest for truth, has exerted a far-reaching influence on our age" |
| 1963 |
Giorgos Seferis |
"for his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic
world of culture" |
| 1962 |
John Steinbeck |
"for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic
humour and keen social perception" |
| 1961 |
Ivo Andric |
"for the epic force with which he has traced themes and depicted human destinies
drawn from the history of his country" |
| 1960 |
Saint-John Perse |
"for the soaring flight and the evocative imagery of his poetry which in a visionary
fashion reflects the conditions of our time" |
| 1959 |
Salvatore Quasimodo |
"for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience
of life in our own times" |
| 1958 |
Boris Pasternak |
"for his important achievement both in contemporary lyrical poetry and in the
field of the great Russian epic tradition" |
| 1957 |
Albert Camus |
"for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness
illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times" |
| 1956 |
Juan Ramón Jiménez |
"for his lyrical poetry, which in Spanish language constitutes an example of
high spirit and artistical purity" |
| 1955 |
Halldór Laxness |
"for his vivid epic power which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland"
|
| 1954 |
Ernest Hemingway |
"for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The
Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style"
|
| 1953 |
Winston Churchill |
"for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant
oratory in defending exalted human values" |
| 1952 |
François Mauriac |
"for the deep spiritual insight and the artistic intensity with which he has
in his novels penetrated the drama of human life" |
| 1951 |
Pär Lagerkvist |
"for the artistic vigour and true independence of mind with which he endeavours
in his poetry to find answers to the eternal questions confronting mankind" |
| 1950 |
Bertrand Russell |
"in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions
humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought" |
| 1949 |
William Faulkner |
"for his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American
novel" |
| 1948 |
T.S. Eliot |
"for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry" |
| 1947 |
André Gide |
"for his comprehensive and artistically significant writings, in which human
problems and conditions have been presented with a fearless love of truth and keen
psychological insight" |
| 1946 |
Hermann Hesse |
"for his inspired writings which, while growing in boldness and penetration,
exemplify the classical humanitarian ideals and high qualities of style" |
| 1945 |
Gabriela Mistral |
"for her lyric poetry which, inspired by powerful emotions, has made her name
a symbol of the idealistic aspirations of the entire Latin American world" |
| 1944 |
Johannes V. Jensen |
"for the rare strength and fertility of his poetic imagination with which is
combined an intellectual curiosity of wide scope and a bold, freshly creative style"
|
| 1943 |
|
The prize money was with 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the
Special Fund of this prize section |
| 1942 |
|
The prize money was with 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the
Special Fund of this prize section |
| 1941 |
|
The prize money was with 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the
Special Fund of this prize section |
| 1940 |
|
The prize money was with 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the
Special Fund of this prize section |
| 1939 |
Frans Eemil Sillanpää |
"for his deep understanding of his country's peasantry and the exquisite art
with which he has portrayed their way of life and their relationship with Nature"
|
| 1938 |
Pearl Buck |
"for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her
biographical masterpieces" |
| 1937 |
Roger Martin du Gard |
"for the artistic power and truth with which he has depicted human conflict
as well as some fundamental aspects of contemporary life in his novel-cycle Les
Thibault" |
| 1936 |
Eugene O'Neill |
"for the power, honesty and deep-felt emotions of his dramatic works, which
embody an original concept of tragedy" |
| 1935 |
The prize money was with 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the
Special Fund of this prize section |
| 1934 |
Luigi Pirandello |
"for his bold and ingenious revival of dramatic and scenic art" |
| 1933 |
Ivan Bunin |
"for the strict artistry with which he has carried on the classical Russian
traditions in prose writing" |
| 1932 |
John Galsworthy |
"for his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The
Forsyte Saga" |
| 1931 |
Erik Axel Karlfeldt |
"The poetry of Erik Axel Karlfeldt" |
| 1930 |
Sinclair Lewis |
"for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create,
with wit and humour, new types of characters" |
| 1929 |
Thomas Mann |
"principally for his great novel, Buddenbrooks, which has won steadily increased
recognition as one of the classic works of contemporary literature" |
| 1928 |
Sigrid Undset |
"principally for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle
Ages" |
| 1927 |
Henri Bergson |
"in recognition of his rich and vitalizing ideas and the brillant skill with
which they have been presented" |
| 1926 |
Grazia Deledda |
"for her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture
the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems
in general" |
| 1925 |
George Bernard Shaw |
"for his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating
satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty" |
| 1924 |
Wladyslaw Reymont |
"for his great national epic, The Peasants" |
| 1923 |
William Butler Yeats |
"for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression
to the spirit of a whole nation" |
| 1922 |
Jacinto Benavente |
"for the happy manner in which he has continued the illustrious traditions of
the Spanish drama" |
| 1921 |
Anatole France |
"in recognition of his brilliant literary achievements, characterized as they
are by a nobility of style, a profound human sympathy, grace, and a true Gallic
temperament" |
| 1920 |
Knut Hamsun |
"for his monumental work, Growth of the Soil" |
| 1919 |
Carl Spitteler |
"in special appreciation of his epic, Olympian Spring" |
| 1918 |
The prize money was allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section |
| 1917 |
Karl Gjellerup |
"for his varied and rich poetry, which is inspired by lofty ideals" |
| 1917 |
Henrik Pontoppidan |
"for his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark" |
| 1916 |
Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam |
"in recognition of his significance as the leading representative of a new era
in our literature" |
| 1915 |
Romain Rolland
|
"as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary production and to the sympathy
and love of truth with which he has described different types of human beings"
|
| 1914 |
The prize money was allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section |
| 1913 |
Rabindranath Tagore |
"because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with
consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words,
a part of the literature of the West" |
| 1912 |
Gerhart Hauptmann |
"primarily in recognition of his fruitful, varied and outstanding production
in the realm of dramatic art" |
| 1911 |
Maurice Maeterlinck |
"in appreciation of his many-sided literary activities, and especially of his
dramatic works, which are distinguished by a wealth of imagination and by a poetic
fancy, which reveals, sometimes in the guise of a fairy tale, a deep inspiration,
while in a mysterious way they appeal to the readers' own feelings and stimulate
their imaginations" |
| 1910 |
Paul Heyse |
"as a tribute to the consummate artistry, permeated with idealism, which he
has demonstrated during his long productive career as a lyric poet, dramatist, novelist
and writer of world-renowned short stories" |
| 1909 |
Selma Lagerlöf |
"in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception
that characterize her writings" |
| 1908 |
Rudolf Eucken |
"in recognition of his earnest search for truth, his penetrating power of thought,
his wide range of vision, and the warmth and strength in presentation with which
in his numerous works he has vindicated and developed an idealistic philosophy of
life" |
| 1907 |
Rudyard Kipling |
"in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility
of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of
this world-famous author" |
| 1906 |
Giosuè Carducci |
"not only in consideration of his deep learning and critical research, but above
all as a tribute to the creative energy, freshness of style, and lyrical force which
characterize his poetic masterpieces" |
| 1905 |
Henryk Sienkiewicz |
"because of his outstanding merits as an epic writer" |
| 1904 |
Frédéric Mistral |
"in recognition of the fresh originality and true inspiration of his poetic
production, which faithfully reflects the natural scenery and native spirit of his
people, and, in addition, his significant work as a Provençal philologist" |
| 1904 |
José Echegaray |
"in recognition of the numerous and brilliant compositions which, in an individual
and original manner, have revived the great traditions of the Spanish drama"
|
| 1903 |
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson |
"as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always
been distinguished by both the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity
of its spirit" |
| 1902 |
Theodor Mommsen |
"the greatest living master of the art of historical writing, with special reference
to his monumental work, A history of Rome" |
| 1901 |
Sully Prudhomme |
"in special recognition of his poetic composition, which gives evidence of lofty
idealism, artistic perfection and a rare combination of the qualities of both heart
and intellect" |