The Nobel Prize in Literature (Swedish: Nobelpriset i litteratur) is awarded annually by the Swedish Academy to authors for outstanding contributions in the field of literature. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the 1895 will of Alfred Nobel, which are awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine. As dictated by Nobel's will, the award is administered by the Nobel Foundation and awarded by the Swedish Academy. Each recipient receives a medal, a diploma and a monetary award prize that has varied throughout the years. In 1901, the first laureate Sully Prudhomme received 150,782 SEK, which is equivalent to 8,823,637.78 SEK in January 2018. The award is presented in Stockholm at an annual ceremony on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death.
As of 2024, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to 121 individuals. 18 women have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, the second highest number of any of the Nobel Prizes behind the Nobel Peace Prize. As of 2024, there have been 29 English-speaking laureates of the Nobel Prize in Literature, followed by French with 16 laureates and German with 14 laureates. France has the highest number of Nobel laureates.
Tables
· Laureates
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1901
1901
Year
1901
Picture
Laureate
Sully Prudhomme (1839–1907)
Country
France
Language(s)
French
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
poetry, essay
1902
1902
Year
1902
Picture
Laureate
Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903)
Country
Germany
Language(s)
German
Citation
"the greatest living master of the art of historical writing, with special reference to his monumental work A History of Rome"
Genre(s)
history, law
1903
1903
Year
1903
Picture
Laureate
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832–1910)
Country
Norway
Language(s)
Norwegian
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
poetry, novel, drama
1904
1904
Year
1904
Picture
Laureate
Frédéric Mistral (1830–1914)
Country
France
Language(s)
Provençal
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
poetry, philology
1905
1905
Year
1905
Picture
Laureate
Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846–1916)
Country
Poland
Language(s)
Polish
Citation
"because of his outstanding merits as an epic writer"
Genre(s)
novel
1906
1906
Year
1906
Picture
Laureate
Giosuè Carducci (1835–1907)
Country
Italy
Language(s)
Italian
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
poetry
1907
1907
Year
1907
Picture
Laureate
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936)
Country
United Kingdom
Language(s)
English
Citation
"in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration that characterize the creations of this world-famous author"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, poetry
1908
1908
Year
1908
Picture
Laureate
Rudolf Christoph Eucken (1846–1926)
Country
Germany
Language(s)
German
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
philosophy
1909
1909
Year
1909
Picture
Laureate
Selma Lagerlöf (1858–1940)
Country
Sweden
Language(s)
Swedish
Citation
"in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings"
Genre(s)
novel, short story
1910
1910
Year
1910
Picture
Laureate
Paul von Heyse (1830–1914)
Country
Germany
Language(s)
German
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
poetry, drama, novel, short story
1911
1911
Year
1911
Picture
Laureate
Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949)
Country
Belgium
Language(s)
French
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
drama, poetry, essay
1912
1912
Year
1912
Picture
Laureate
Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946)
Country
Germany
Language(s)
German
Citation
"primarily in recognition of his fruitful, varied and outstanding production in the realm of dramatic art"
Genre(s)
drama, novel
1913
1913
Year
1913
Picture
Laureate
Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941)
Country
India (British Raj)
Language(s)
Bengali and English
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
poetry, novel, drama, short story, essay, translation
1914
1914
Year
1914
Picture
Not awarded
1915
1915
Year
1915
Picture
Laureate
Romain Rolland (1866–1944)
Country
France
Language(s)
French
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
novel
1916
1916
Year
1916
Picture
Laureate
Verner von Heidenstam (1859–1940)
Country
Sweden
Language(s)
Swedish
Citation
"in recognition of his significance as the leading representative of a new era in our literature"
Genre(s)
poetry, novel
1917
1917
Year
1917
Picture
Laureate
Karl Adolph Gjellerup (1857–1919)
Country
Denmark
Language(s)
Danish and German
Citation
"for his varied and rich poetry, which is inspired by lofty ideals"
Genre(s)
poetry
1918
1918
Year
1918
Picture
Not awarded
1919
1919
Year
1919
Picture
Laureate
Carl Spitteler (1845–1924)
Country
Switzerland
Language(s)
German
Citation
"in special appreciation of his epic, Olympian Spring"
Genre(s)
poetry
1920
1920
Year
1920
Picture
Laureate
Knut Hamsun (1859–1952)
Country
Norway
Language(s)
Norwegian
Citation
"for his monumental work, Growth of the Soil"
Genre(s)
novel
1921
1921
Year
1921
Picture
Laureate
Anatole France (1844–1924)
Country
France
Language(s)
French
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
novel, poetry
1922
1922
Year
1922
Picture
Laureate
Jacinto Benavente (1866–1954)
Country
Spain
Language(s)
Spanish
Citation
"for the happy manner in which he has continued the illustrious traditions of the Spanish drama"
Genre(s)
drama
1923
1923
Year
1923
Picture
Laureate
William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
Country
Ireland
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation"
Genre(s)
poetry
1924
1924
Year
1924
Picture
Laureate
Władysław Reymont (1867–1925)
Country
Poland
Language(s)
Polish
Citation
"for his great national epic, The Peasants"
Genre(s)
novel
1925
1925
Year
1925
Picture
Laureate
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
Country
United Kingdom Ireland
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty"
Genre(s)
drama, essay
1926
1926
Year
1926
Picture
Laureate
Grazia Deledda (1871–1936)
Country
Italy
Language(s)
Italian
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
poetry, novel
1927
1927
Year
1927
Picture
Laureate
Henri Bergson (1859–1941)
Country
France
Language(s)
French
Citation
"in recognition of his rich and vitalizing ideas and the brilliant skill with which they have been presented"
Genre(s)
philosophy
1928
1928
Year
1928
Picture
Laureate
Sigrid Undset (1882–1949)
Country
Norway Denmark
Language(s)
Norwegian
Citation
"principally for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages"
Genre(s)
novel
1929
1929
Year
1929
Picture
Laureate
Thomas Mann (1875–1955)
Country
Germany
Language(s)
German
Citation
"principally for his great novel, Buddenbrooks, which has won steadily increased recognition as one of the classic works of contemporary literature"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, essay
1930
1930
Year
1930
Picture
Laureate
Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951)
Country
United States
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, drama
1931
1931
Year
1931
Picture
Laureate
Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1864–1931)
Country
Sweden
Language(s)
Swedish
Citation
"The poetry of Erik Axel Karlfeldt"
Genre(s)
poetry
1932
1932
Year
1932
Picture
Laureate
John Galsworthy (1867–1933)
Country
United Kingdom
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for his distinguished art of narration, which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga"
Genre(s)
novel
1933
1933
Year
1933
Picture
Laureate
Ivan Bunin (1870–1953)
Country
Stateless(born in Russian Empire)
Language(s)
Russian
Citation
"for the strict artistry with which he has carried on the classical Russian traditions in prose writing"
Genre(s)
short story, poetry, novel
1934
1934
Year
1934
Picture
Laureate
Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936)
Country
Italy
Language(s)
Italian
Citation
"for his bold and ingenious revival of dramatic and scenic art"
Genre(s)
drama, novel, short story
1935
1935
Year
1935
Picture
Not awarded
1936
1936
Year
1936
Picture
Laureate
Eugene O'Neill (1888–1953)
Country
United States
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for the power, honesty and deep-felt emotions of his dramatic works, which embody an original concept of tragedy"
Genre(s)
drama
1937
1937
Year
1937
Picture
Laureate
Roger Martin du Gard (1881–1958)
Country
France
Language(s)
French
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
novel
1938
1938
Year
1938
Picture
Laureate
Pearl Buck (1892–1973)
Country
United States
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces"
Genre(s)
novel, biography
1939
1939
Year
1939
Picture
Laureate
Frans Eemil Sillanpää (1888–1964)
Country
Finland
Language(s)
Finnish
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
novel
1940
1940
Year
1940
Picture
Not awarded
1941
1941
Year
1941
1942
1942
Year
1942
1943
1943
Year
1943
1944
1944
Year
1944
Picture
Laureate
Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (1873–1950)
Country
Denmark
Language(s)
Danish
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
novel, short story
1945
1945
Year
1945
Picture
Laureate
Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957)
Country
Chile
Language(s)
Spanish
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
poetry
1946
1946
Year
1946
Picture
Laureate
Hermann Hesse (1877–1962)
Country
Germany Switzerland
Language(s)
German
Citation
"for his inspired writings, which while growing in boldness and penetration, exemplify the classical humanitarian ideals and high qualities of style"
Genre(s)
novel, poetry
1947
1947
Year
1947
Picture
Laureate
André Gide (1869–1951)
Country
France
Language(s)
French
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
novel, essay, drama, memoir
1948
1948
Year
1948
Picture
Laureate
Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888–1965)
Country
United Kingdom(born in the United States)
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry"
Genre(s)
poetry, essay, drama
1949
1949
Year
1949
Picture
Laureate
William Faulkner (1897–1962)
Country
United States
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel"
Genre(s)
novel, short story
1950
1950
Year
1950
Picture
Laureate
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970)
Country
United Kingdom
Language(s)
English
Citation
"in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought"
Genre(s)
philosophy, essay
1951
1951
Year
1951
Picture
Laureate
Pär Lagerkvist (1891–1974)
Country
Sweden
Language(s)
Swedish
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
poetry, novel, short story, drama
1952
1952
Year
1952
Picture
Laureate
François Mauriac (1885–1970)
Country
France
Language(s)
French
Citation
"for the deep spiritual insight and the artistic intensity with which he has in his novels penetrated the drama of human life"
Genre(s)
novel, short story
1953
1953
Year
1953
Picture
Laureate
Winston Churchill (1874–1965)
Country
United Kingdom
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values"
Genre(s)
history, essay, memoir
1954
1954
Year
1954
Picture
Laureate
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
Country
United States
Language(s)
English
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, screenplay
1955
1955
Year
1955
Picture
Laureate
Halldór Laxness (1902–1998)
Country
Iceland
Language(s)
Icelandic
Citation
"for his vivid epic power, which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, drama, poetry
1956
1956
Year
1956
Picture
Laureate
Juan Ramón Jiménez (1881–1958)
Country
Spain
Language(s)
Spanish
Citation
"for his lyrical poetry, which in Spanish language constitutes an example of high spirit and artistical purity"
Genre(s)
poetry, novel
1957
1957
Year
1957
Picture
Laureate
Albert Camus (1913–1960)
Country
France(born in French Algeria)
Language(s)
French
Citation
"for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, drama, philosophy, essay
1958
1958
Year
1958
Picture
Laureate
Boris Pasternak (1890–1960)
Country
Soviet Union
Language(s)
Russian
Citation
"for his important achievement both in contemporary lyrical poetry and in the field of the great Russian epic tradition"
Genre(s)
novel, poetry, translation
1959
1959
Year
1959
Picture
Laureate
Salvatore Quasimodo (1901–1968)
Country
Italy
Language(s)
Italian
Citation
"for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own times"
Genre(s)
poetry
1960
1960
Year
1960
Picture
Laureate
Saint-John Perse (1887–1975)
Country
France(born in Guadeloupe)
Language(s)
French
Citation
"for the soaring flight and the evocative imagery of his poetry, which in a visionary fashion reflects the conditions of our time"
Genre(s)
poetry
1961
1961
Year
1961
Picture
Laureate
Ivo Andrić (1892–1975)
Country
Yugoslavia(born in Austria-Hungary)
Language(s)
Serbo-Croatian
Citation
"for the epic force with which he has traced themes and depicted human destinies drawn from the history of his country"
Genre(s)
novel, short story
1962
1962
Year
1962
Picture
Laureate
John Steinbeck (1902–1968)
Country
United States
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, screenplay
1963
1963
Year
1963
Picture
Laureate
Giorgos Seferis (1900–1971)
Country
Greece(born in the Ottoman Empire)
Language(s)
Greek
Citation
"for his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture"
Genre(s)
poetry, essay, memoir
1964
1964
Year
1964
Picture
Laureate
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980)
Country
France
Language(s)
French
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
philosophy, novel, drama, essay, short story, screenplay
1965
1965
Year
1965
Picture
Laureate
Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984)
Country
Soviet Union
Language(s)
Russian
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
novel
1966
1966
Year
1966
Picture
Laureate
Shmuel Yosef Agnon (1888–1970)
Country
Israel(born in Austria-Hungary)
Language(s)
Hebrew
Citation
"for his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of the Jewish people"
Genre(s)
novel, short story
1967
1967
Year
1967
Picture
Laureate
Miguel Ángel Asturias (1899–1974)
Country
Guatemala
Language(s)
Spanish
Citation
"for his vivid literary achievement, deep-rooted in the national traits and traditions of Indian peoples of Latin America"
Genre(s)
novel, poetry
1968
1968
Year
1968
Picture
Laureate
Yasunari Kawabata (1899–1972)
Country
Japan
Language(s)
Japanese
Citation
"for his narrative mastery, which with great sensibility expresses the essence of the Japanese mind"
Genre(s)
novel, short story
1969
1969
Year
1969
Picture
Laureate
Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)
Country
Ireland
Language(s)
French and English
Citation
"for his writing, which – in new forms for the novel and drama – in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation"
Genre(s)
novel, drama, poetry
1970
1970
Year
1970
Picture
Laureate
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008)
Country
Soviet Union
Language(s)
Russian
Citation
"for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature"
Genre(s)
novel, essay, short story
1971
1971
Year
1971
Picture
Laureate
Pablo Neruda (1904–1973)
Country
Chile
Language(s)
Spanish
Citation
"for a poetry that with the action of an elemental force brings alive a continent's destiny and dreams"
Genre(s)
poetry
1972
1972
Year
1972
Picture
Laureate
Heinrich Böll (1917–1985)
Country
West Germany
Language(s)
German
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
novel, short story
1973
1973
Year
1973
Picture
Laureate
Patrick White (1912–1990)
Country
Australia(born in the United Kingdom)
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for an epic and psychological narrative art, which has introduced a new continent into literature"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, drama
1974
1974
Year
1974
Picture
Laureate
Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976)
Country
Sweden
Language(s)
Swedish
Citation
"for a narrative art, farseeing in lands and ages, in the service of freedom"
Genre(s)
novel
1975
1975
Year
1975
Picture
Laureate
Eugenio Montale (1896–1981)
Country
Italy
Language(s)
Italian
Citation
"for his distinctive poetry, which, with great artistic sensitivity, has interpreted human values under the sign of an outlook on life with no illusions"
Genre(s)
poetry
1976
1976
Year
1976
Picture
Laureate
Saul Bellow (1915–2005)
Country
United States Canada
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work"
Genre(s)
novel, short story
1977
1977
Year
1977
Picture
Laureate
Vicente Aleixandre (1898–1984)
Country
Spain
Language(s)
Spanish
Citation
"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 between the wars"
Genre(s)
poetry
1978
1978
Year
1978
Picture
Laureate
Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902–1991)
Country
Poland United States
Language(s)
Yiddish
Citation
"for his impassioned narrative art which, with roots in a Polish-Jewish cultural tradition, brings universal human conditions to life"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, memoir
1979
1979
Year
1979
Picture
Laureate
Odysseas Elytis (1911–1996)
Country
Greece
Language(s)
Greek
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
poetry, essay
1980
1980
Year
1980
Picture
Laureate
Czesław Miłosz (1911–2004)
Country
Poland(born in Russian Empire)
Language(s)
Polish
Citation
"who with uncompromising clear-sightedness voices man's exposed condition in a world of severe conflicts"
Genre(s)
poetry, novel, essay
1981
1981
Year
1981
Picture
Laureate
Elias Canetti (1905–1994)
Country
United Kingdom Bulgaria
Language(s)
German
Citation
"for writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas and artistic power"
Genre(s)
novel, drama, memoirs, essay
1982
1982
Year
1982
Picture
Laureate
Gabriel García Márquez (1927–2014)
Country
Colombia
Language(s)
Spanish
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, screenplay
1983
1983
Year
1983
Picture
Laureate
William Golding (1911–1993)
Country
United Kingdom
Language(s)
English
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
novel, poetry, drama
1984
1984
Year
1984
Picture
Laureate
Jaroslav Seifert (1901–1986)
Country
Czechoslovakia(born in Austria-Hungary)
Language(s)
Czech
Citation
"for his poetry, which endowed with freshness, and rich inventiveness provides a liberating image of the indomitable spirit and versatility of man"
Genre(s)
poetry
1985
1985
Year
1985
Picture
Laureate
Claude Simon (1913–2005)
Country
France(born in French Madagascar)
Language(s)
French
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
novel, essay
1986
1986
Year
1986
Picture
Laureate
Wole Soyinka (b. 1934)
Country
Nigeria
Language(s)
English
Citation
"who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence"
Genre(s)
drama, novel, poetry, screenplay
1987
1987
Year
1987
Picture
Laureate
Joseph Brodsky (1940–1996)
Country
United States Soviet Union
Language(s)
Russian and English
Citation
"for an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity"
Genre(s)
poetry, essay
1988
1988
Year
1988
Picture
Laureate
Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006)
Country
Egypt
Language(s)
Arabic
Citation
"who, through works rich in nuance – now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous – has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind"
Genre(s)
novel, short story
1989
1989
Year
1989
Picture
Laureate
Camilo José Cela (1916–2002)
Country
Spain
Language(s)
Spanish
Citation
"for a rich and intensive prose, which with restrained compassion forms a challenging vision of man's vulnerability"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, essay, poetry
1990
1990
Year
1990
Picture
Laureate
Octavio Paz (1914–1998)
Country
Mexico
Language(s)
Spanish
Citation
"for impassioned writing with wide horizons, characterized by sensuous intelligence and humanistic integrity"
Genre(s)
poetry, essay
1991
1991
Year
1991
Picture
Laureate
Nadine Gordimer (1923–2014)
Country
South Africa
Language(s)
English
Citation
"who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, essay, drama
1992
1992
Year
1992
Picture
Laureate
Derek Walcott (1930–2017)
Country
Saint Lucia
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment"
Genre(s)
poetry, drama
1993
1993
Year
1993
Picture
Laureate
Toni Morrison (1931–2019)
Country
United States
Language(s)
English
Citation
"who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality"
Genre(s)
novel, essay
1994
1994
Year
1994
Picture
Laureate
Kenzaburō Ōe (1935–2023)
Country
Japan
Language(s)
Japanese
Citation
"who with poetic force creates an imagined world, where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, essay
1995
1995
Year
1995
Picture
Laureate
Seamus Heaney (1939–2013)
Country
Ireland
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past"
Genre(s)
poetry, drama, translation, essay
1996
1996
Year
1996
Picture
Laureate
Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012)
Country
Poland
Language(s)
Polish
Citation
"for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality"
Genre(s)
poetry, essay, translation
1997
1997
Year
1997
Picture
Laureate
Dario Fo (1926–2016)
Country
Italy
Language(s)
Italian
Citation
"who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden"
Genre(s)
drama, song lyrics
1998
1998
Year
1998
Picture
Laureate
José Saramago (1922–2010)
Country
Portugal
Language(s)
Portuguese
Citation
"who with parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality"
Genre(s)
novel, drama, poetry
1999
1999
Year
1999
Picture
Laureate
Günter Grass (1927–2015)
Country
Germany(born in Free City of Danzig)
Language(s)
German
Citation
"whose frolicsome black fables portray the forgotten face of history"
Genre(s)
novel, drama, poetry, essay
2000
2000
Year
2000
Picture
Laureate
Gao Xingjian (b. 1940)
Country
France China
Language(s)
Chinese and French
Citation
"for an oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity, which has opened new paths for the Chinese novel and drama"
Genre(s)
novel, drama, essay
2001
2001
Year
2001
Picture
Laureate
Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul (1932–2018)
Country
United Kingdom Trinidad and Tobago
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories"
Genre(s)
novel, essay
2002
2002
Year
2002
Picture
Laureate
Imre Kertész (1929–2016)
Country
Hungary
Language(s)
Hungarian
Citation
"for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history"
Genre(s)
novel
2003
2003
Year
2003
Picture
Laureate
John Maxwell Coetzee (b. 1940)
Country
South Africa
Language(s)
English
Citation
"who in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider"
Genre(s)
novel, essay, translation
2004
2004
Year
2004
Picture
Laureate
Elfriede Jelinek (b. 1946)
Country
Austria
Language(s)
German
Citation
"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"
Genre(s)
novel, drama
2005
2005
Year
2005
Picture
Laureate
Harold Pinter (1930–2008)
Country
United Kingdom
Language(s)
English
Citation
"who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms"
Genre(s)
drama, screenplay, poetry
2006
2006
Year
2006
Picture
Laureate
Orhan Pamuk (b. 1952)
Country
Turkey
Language(s)
Turkish
Citation
"who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures"
Genre(s)
novel, screenplay, autobiography, essay
2007
2007
Year
2007
Picture
Laureate
Doris Lessing (1919–2013)
Country
United Kingdom(born in Iran)
Language(s)
English
Citation
"that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, memoir/ autobiography, drama, poetry, essay
2008
2008
Year
2008
Picture
Laureate
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (b. 1940)
Country
France Mauritius
Language(s)
French
Citation
"author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, essay, translation
2009
2009
Year
2009
Picture
Laureate
Herta Müller (b. 1953)
Country
Germany Romania
Language(s)
German
Citation
"who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, poetry, essay
2010
2010
Year
2010
Picture
Laureate
Mario Vargas Llosa (1936–2025)
Country
Peru Spain
Language(s)
Spanish
Citation
"for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, essay, drama, memoir
2011
2011
Year
2011
Picture
Laureate
Tomas Tranströmer (1931–2015)
Country
Sweden
Language(s)
Swedish
Citation
"because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality"
Genre(s)
poetry, translation
2012
2012
Year
2012
Picture
Laureate
Mo Yan (b. 1955)
Country
China
Language(s)
Chinese
Citation
"who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary"
Genre(s)
novel, short story
2013
2013
Year
2013
Picture
Laureate
Alice Munro (1931–2024)
Country
Canada
Language(s)
English
Citation
"master of the contemporary short story"
Genre(s)
short story
2014
2014
Year
2014
Picture
Laureate
Patrick Modiano (b. 1945)
Country
France
Language(s)
French
Citation
"for the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the Occupation"
Genre(s)
novel, screenplay
2015
2015
Year
2015
Picture
Laureate
Svetlana Alexievich (b. 1948)
Country
Belarus (born in Soviet Ukraine)
Language(s)
Russian
Citation
"for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time"
Genre(s)
history, essay
2016
2016
Year
2016
Picture
Laureate
Bob Dylan (b. 1941)
Country
United States
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition"
Genre(s)
poetry, song lyrics
2017
2017
Year
2017
Picture
Laureate
Kazuo Ishiguro (b. 1954)
Country
United Kingdom (born in Japan)
Language(s)
English
Citation
"who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world"
Genre(s)
novel, screenplay, short story
2018
2018
Year
2018
Picture
Laureate
Olga Tokarczuk (b. 1962)
Country
Poland
Language(s)
Polish
Citation
"for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, poetry, essay, screenplay
2019
2019
Year
2019
Picture
Laureate
Peter Handke (b. 1942)
Country
Austria
Language(s)
German
Citation
"for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, drama, essay, translation, screenplay
2020
2020
Year
2020
Picture
Laureate
Louise Glück (1943–2023)
Country
United States
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal"
Genre(s)
poetry, essay
2021
2021
Year
2021
Picture
Laureate
Abdulrazak Gurnah (b. 1948)
Country
Tanzania United Kingdom(born in the Sultanate of Zanzibar)
Language(s)
English
Citation
"for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, essay
2022
2022
Year
2022
Picture
Laureate
Annie Ernaux (b. 1940)
Country
France
Language(s)
French
Citation
"for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory"
Genre(s)
memoir, novel
2023
2023
Year
2023
Picture
Laureate
Jon Fosse (b. 1959)
Country
Norway
Language(s)
Norwegian
Citation
"for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable"
Genre(s)
drama, novel, poetry, essay
2024
2024
Year
2024
Picture
Laureate
Han Kang (b. 1970)
Country
South Korea
Language(s)
Korean
Citation
"for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life"
Genre(s)
novel, poetry
2025
2025
Year
2025
Picture
Laureate
László Krasznahorkai (b. 1954)
Country
Hungary
Language(s)
Hungarian
Citation
"for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art"
Genre(s)
novel, short story, essay, screenplay
Ranked list
Year
Picture
Laureate
Country
Language(s)
Citation
Genre(s)
1901
Sully Prudhomme (1839–1907)
France
French
"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"
poetry, essay
1902
Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903)
Germany
German
"the greatest living master of the art of historical writing, with special reference to his monumental work A History of Rome"
history, law
1903
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832–1910)
Norway
Norwegian
"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"
poetry, novel, drama
1904
Frédéric Mistral (1830–1914)
France
Provençal
"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"
poetry, philology
José Echegaray (1832–1916)
Spain
Spanish
"in recognition of the numerous and brilliant compositions which, in an individual and original manner, have revived the great traditions of the Spanish drama"
drama
1905
Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846–1916)
Poland
Polish
"because of his outstanding merits as an epic writer"
novel
1906
Giosuè Carducci (1835–1907)
Italy
Italian
"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"
poetry
1907
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936)
United Kingdom
English
"in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration that characterize the creations of this world-famous author"
novel, short story, poetry
1908
Rudolf Christoph Eucken (1846–1926)
Germany
German
"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"
philosophy
1909
Selma Lagerlöf (1858–1940)
Sweden
Swedish
"in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings"
novel, short story
1910
Paul von Heyse (1830–1914)
Germany
German
"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"
poetry, drama, novel, short story
1911
Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949)
Belgium
French
"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"
drama, poetry, essay
1912
Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946)
Germany
German
"primarily in recognition of his fruitful, varied and outstanding production in the realm of dramatic art"
drama, novel
1913
Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941)
India (British Raj)
Bengali and English
"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"
poetry, novel, drama, short story, essay, translation
1914
Not awarded
1915
Romain Rolland (1866–1944)
France
French
"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"
novel
1916
Verner von Heidenstam (1859–1940)
Sweden
Swedish
"in recognition of his significance as the leading representative of a new era in our literature"
poetry, novel
1917
Karl Adolph Gjellerup (1857–1919)
Denmark
Danish and German
"for his varied and rich poetry, which is inspired by lofty ideals"
poetry
Henrik Pontoppidan (1857–1943)
Denmark
Danish
"for his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark"
novel
1918
Not awarded
1919
Carl Spitteler (1845–1924)
Switzerland
German
"in special appreciation of his epic, Olympian Spring"
poetry
1920
Knut Hamsun (1859–1952)
Norway
Norwegian
"for his monumental work, Growth of the Soil"
novel
1921
Anatole France (1844–1924)
France
French
"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"
novel, poetry
1922
Jacinto Benavente (1866–1954)
Spain
Spanish
"for the happy manner in which he has continued the illustrious traditions of the Spanish drama"
drama
1923
William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
Ireland
English
"for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation"
poetry
1924
Władysław Reymont (1867–1925)
Poland
Polish
"for his great national epic, The Peasants"
novel
1925
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
United Kingdom Ireland
English
"for his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty"
drama, essay
1926
Grazia Deledda (1871–1936)
Italy
Italian
"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"
poetry, novel
1927
Henri Bergson (1859–1941)
France
French
"in recognition of his rich and vitalizing ideas and the brilliant skill with which they have been presented"
philosophy
1928
Sigrid Undset (1882–1949)
Norway Denmark
Norwegian
"principally for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages"
novel
1929
Thomas Mann (1875–1955)
Germany
German
"principally for his great novel, Buddenbrooks, which has won steadily increased recognition as one of the classic works of contemporary literature"
novel, short story, essay
1930
Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951)
United States
English
"for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters"
novel, short story, drama
1931
Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1864–1931)
Sweden
Swedish
"The poetry of Erik Axel Karlfeldt"
poetry
1932
John Galsworthy (1867–1933)
United Kingdom
English
"for his distinguished art of narration, which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga"
novel
1933
Ivan Bunin (1870–1953)
Stateless(born in Russian Empire)
Russian
"for the strict artistry with which he has carried on the classical Russian traditions in prose writing"
short story, poetry, novel
1934
Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936)
Italy
Italian
"for his bold and ingenious revival of dramatic and scenic art"
drama, novel, short story
1935
Not awarded
1936
Eugene O'Neill (1888–1953)
United States
English
"for the power, honesty and deep-felt emotions of his dramatic works, which embody an original concept of tragedy"
drama
1937
Roger Martin du Gard (1881–1958)
France
French
"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"
novel
1938
Pearl Buck (1892–1973)
United States
English
"for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces"
novel, biography
1939
Frans Eemil Sillanpää (1888–1964)
Finland
Finnish
"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"
novel
1940
Not awarded
1941
1942
1943
1944
Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (1873–1950)
Denmark
Danish
"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"
novel, short story
1945
Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957)
Chile
Spanish
"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"
poetry
1946
Hermann Hesse (1877–1962)
Germany Switzerland
German
"for his inspired writings, which while growing in boldness and penetration, exemplify the classical humanitarian ideals and high qualities of style"
novel, poetry
1947
André Gide (1869–1951)
France
French
"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"
