Each year, passionate readers throughout the world wait for that October day when the greatest award in the world of books is announced: the Nobel Prize in Literature. Since 1901, the Swedish Academy has awarded the prize to an author from any country who has produced “the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction.” These subjective words have led to choices that have been alternately celebrated and criticized for more than a century.
Join Joseph Luzzi, a professor of comparative literature at Bard College, as he delves into the fascinating history of the prize and controversial decisions by the Nobel Prize committee, explaining why unexpected writers won (Bob Dylan) and legendary authors did not (including Leo Tolstoy, Marcel Proust, and James Joyce). He also considers cases where the Nobel Prize committee made choices that have been celebrated as just right and discusses why the Nobel Prize is such an important institution worldwide and how it continues to affect readers’ lives.
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