The Swedish Academy has named Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk and the Austrian Peter Handke as the winner of Nobel Prize in Literature for 2018 and 2019 respectively. The 2018 and 2019 laureates were named at the same time because last year’s prize was postponed over a financial and sexual scandal that involved the jury.
In 2018, Tokarczuk, who studied psychology at the University of Warsaw, became the first Polish writer to win Britain’s Man Booker Prize for International Literature for her novel Flights. Besides being a prolific writer, she is the best-selling novelist in country, and has won numerous awards for her work.
Handke, a novelist, playwright, film director, and screenwriter, is widely known to critics as the ” Camera”, for his superior ingenuity in portraying human emotions and everyday manifestations. His most notable works include “Winter Journey”, ” Short Letter, Long Farewell”, ” Writer’s Autumn “, and ” Travelling Yesterday”.
Anders Olsson, chairman of the Nobel Prize Committee for Literature, said the shortlist was made up of eight candidates, two of whom were selected for the 2018 and 2019 awards, each to receive nine million Swedish crowns ($ 908,000) and will be honored at a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, 2019.