- Title: Austrian Handke and Poland's Tokarczuk win Nobel literature prizes
- Date: 10th October 2019
- Summary: STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (OCTOBER 10, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** PERMANENT SECRETARY OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY, MATS MALM, OPENING DOOR AND ENTERING ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) PERMANENT SECRETARY OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY, MATS MALM, SAYING: "The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2018 is awarded to the Polish author Olga Tokarczuk for a narrative imagination that with encyclopaedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life. The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2019 is awarded to the Austrian author Peter Handke for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY, ANDERS OLSSON, SAYING: "She (Tokarczuk) is a writer preoccupied with local life but at the same time inspired by maps and speculative thought, looking at life on Earth from above. Her work centres on migration and cultural transition." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY, ANDERS OLSSON, SAYING: "He (Handke) has for some decades been one of the most influential writers of contemporary fiction, part of the literary debate already in 1966 when he made his debut with the novel "Die Hornissen" (The Hornet) and the play "Publikumsbeschimpfung" (Offending the Audience). NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Swedish) MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY, ANDERS OLSSON, SAYING: "Peter Handke was very, very moved. At first he did not utter any words. He asked for my name and I said 'my name is Anders Olsson". "Anders?" He was wondering if I was someone else. 'Ist es wahr?' (German for "is it true?") And I said 'Es ist wahr'. That is true, this message. He was very moved by this message and will gladly come to Stockholm to hold his speech." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Swedish) MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY, ANDERS OLSSON, SAYING: "This is a literary prize, it is not a political prize and it is for his literary merits that we have given him this prize. Peter Handke is an incredibly big author with a large authorship behind him, so it is entirely that for what he's awarded." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY, ANDERS OLSSON, SAYING, ON HOW THE NEW ACADEMY CONSTELLATION HAS WORKED: "We're not ready to evaluate this new process yet. That we will do next year. This is for two years, this assignment and I will not say anything about the work conclusively today, I can only say that it has been of vital importance for us to bring in this external expertise during this phase and we have been stimulated by this dialogue and then we will see what comes out of it next fall." 13 NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY, PER WASTBERG, SAYING: "To me they are two writers, quite different, but with some extraordinary similarity in one aspect, namely wondering, flaneur, they walk. Both of them, Tokarczuk and Handke, in my experience are really world literature stars." OLSSON BEING INTERVIEWED MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY, PER WASTBERG, SAYING, ON IF THE ACADEMY HAS MOVED ON FROM LAST YEAR: "Well I hope so. The turmoil is beyond us now and we are working as usual with this extended committee and we are all for literature and nothing else. No intrigues, no crises any longer. We are full 18 members, everything looks fine." (Reporter asking: So you have put it behind you?") "Yes definitely." VARIOUS OF MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES
- Embargoed: 24th October 2019 14:41
- Keywords: Nobel Nobel prize literature Peter Handke Olga Tokarczuk controversy Swedish Academy two Nobel prizes
- Location: STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
- City: STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
- Country: Sweden
- Topics: Books,Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA001B0IMYX3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Nobel Prize for literature 2019 was awarded to Austrian writer Peter Handke, while the 2018 award went to Polish author Olga Tokarczuk, the Swedish Academy said on Thursday (October 10).
Handke, 76, was recognised for a body of work including novels, essays, notebooks and drama "that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience," the Academy said.
Tokarczuk, 57, won for "a narrative imagination that with encyclopaedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life."
Both have courted controversy - Handke for his portrayal of Serbia as a victim during the Balkan wars and attending its leader's funeral, and Tokarczuk for touching on dark areas of Poland's past that contrast with the version of history promoted by the country's ruling nationalist party.
Two prizes were awarded this year after last year's award was postponed over a scandal that led to the husband of an Academy member being convicted of rape.
Since then, the organisation has appointed new members and reformed some of its more arcane rules after a rare intervention by its royal patron, the king of Sweden.
Academy member Anders Olsson said both Handke and Tokarczuk had accepted their prizes.
(Production: Bjorn Lockstrom, Ilze Filks) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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