The Polish novelist and activist Olga Tokarczuk and the controversial Austrian author Peter Handke have both won the Nobel prize in literature. The choice of Tokarczuk and Handke comes after the Swedish Academy promised to move away from the award’s “male-oriented” and “Eurocentric” past. Perhaps more gallingly for the Nobel committee, Handke also called for the prize to be wound up in 2014. The permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, Mats Malm, said both laureates had been informed of their win. The selections of Handke and Tokarczuk follow an unprecedented two years of scandal at the Swedish Academy.

Source: The Guardian October 10, 2019 11:06 UTC