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Bestseller or dark horse for 2022 Nobel Literature Prize?
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Tanzanian-born British novelist and academic and Nobel Prize in Literature in 2021 Abdulrazak Gurnah, poses during a photo session in Paris on June 16, 2022. (AFP/Joel Saget)
T
he Swedish Academy will on Thursday announce the 2022 winner of the often-criticised Nobel Literature Prize, with the award committee known for its penchant for spotlighting lesser-known writers over bestselling authors.
In the past two years, the 18-member Academy has bestowed the prestigious prize on US poet Louise Gluck and Tanzanian author Abdulrazak Gurnah, two writers whose work had not been widely translated and was not known to the broad public -- or even some publishers.
"After last year, I think it's maybe even a bit harder to guess" who could win this year, admitted Lina Kalmteg, literary critic for public broadcaster Swedish Radio, recalling the "total surprise" in the studio when Gurnah's name was read out last year.
"I think we can expect a more well-known name this year, after last year's surprise", said Bjorn Wiman, culture editor at Sweden's newspaper of reference Dagens Nyheter.
The Academy is slowly recovering from a devastating #MeToo scandal that led to the postponement of the 2018 prize, and its controversial decision a year later to honour Austrian author Peter Handke.
His pro-Serbian positions extended to backing Serbia's former president Slobodan Milosevic, who was on trial for genocide when he died in 2006.
Three years ago, the body promised new criteria would lead to a more global and gender-equal literature prize.
