Last year's panel got to discuss the 2024 Nobel Prize winner in Literature, Han Kang. Photo: Cecilia Burman

The event begins at 12:45 and takes place on the Library stage, in an open setting where students are studying — open to everyone. The panel’s moderator, Adnan Mahmutovic, Professor of Literature at Stockholm University, sees this as significant.

– Any conversation that does not seek to include and engage a wider audience, and especially students, is practically meaningless. We need to be able to both zoom in and tap into expertise, while also seeking breadth. A conversation on the Nobel Prize is also, in part, a conversation about who we are as Swedes, and what we aim to do in the world, says Mahmutovic. 

The panel will also feature Maria Trejling, researcher in Literature, and Bo G. Ekelund, Professor of Literature, both working at Stockholm University. 

Maria Trejling. Photo: Stockholm University

– Since we don’t know in advance who will be awarded, I look forward to having a conversation for which I can’t prepare. We’ll be thrown into the unexpected, which allows for a more unrestricted discussion, says Trejling. 

Want The Nobel Committee to Surprise

Trejling and Ekelund agree that the Nobel Prize itself has little direct impact on literary research—apart from the fact that it brings literature as such into the spotlight. 

Is there a particular author you are hoping for?

– I would like to be genuinely surprised by the Nobel Committee’s decision – if they were to step outside the narrow path of ‘serious’ literature, as they did when Bob Dylan was awarded the prize. Just imagine if the prize was given to a science-fiction author, such as N. K. Jemisin or Nnedi Okorafor! It would be sensational, and it would expand the horizons of the prize. More within the realm of the possible, I would be happy to see Anne Carson from Canada as a laureate. Another Canadian, Margaret Atwood, includes some science fiction works among her other, many merits. And it will soon be the last chance for the academy to recognize the great postmodern generation of American authors, among whom Thomas Pynchon stands out as a remaining monument, says Ekelund.

Bo G Ekelund. Photo: Rickard Kilström

Maria Trejling has a few names on her wish list as well. 

– I wish they would give the prize to a writer working with the materiality of language, which is usually the case in more formalistically conscious literature than the kind that’s usually awarded. The French-Algerian author Hélène Cixous is a good example, and if it were up to me I’d probably choose her. She listens attentively to the sonorous aspects of language in a way that creates new significatory possibilities and thereby widens our understanding of the world. Among the names usually mentioned in relation to the Nobel prize, I’d hope for Ali Smith or Mircea Cartarescu, says Trejling. 

The Nobel Prize in a Time of Global Turmoil

In addition to speculating about this year’s laureate, Adnan Mahmutovic emphasises the political dimension of literary prizes and the role of the Nobel Prize in today’s world.

Adnan Mahmutovic. Photo: Rickard Kilström

– We are all familiar with the famous question about the role of poetry after the Holocaust. This question seems even more relevant now. Since I believe all art holds great value, my question is what role literary prizes and other forms of social capital given to individuals truly play in a time marked by deep social divides, violations of human rights, challenges to the rules-based order, and even genocide, says Mahmutovic. 

Once this year’s Nobel Laureate in Literature has been announced, the librarians will, where possible, bring out some of the laureate’s works for the panel to read aloud. In addition, there will be a book display with works by previous laureates, available for anyone wishing to delve deeper into Nobel reading.

Text: Cecilia Burman

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