Female Authors with a Nobel Prize in Literature
When I read Never Let Me Go by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro, I became interested in the Nobel Prize for Literature. I thought I’d write a little primer on it and highlight some winners for your consideration. However, the number of authors seems too many for this blog. If you are interested, check out the full list.
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The Nobel Prize for Literature Quick Facts
- According to NobelPrize.org, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded 117 times to 121 Nobel Prize laureates between 1901 and 2024.
- The prize is awarded annually by the Swedish Academy in Stockholm to people they deem to have made “outstanding contributions to literature.”
- The literature prize is one of five Nobel Prizes created by Alfred Nobel’s will when he passed in 1895.
- Nominees are submitted by qualified individuals, including members of the Swedish Academy and other experts, and are considered by the Academy.
- Each laureate receives a medal, a diploma, and a monetary prize.
- The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded on December 10th each year, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.
Women Awarded Nobel Laureates in Literature
Of the 121 Nobel Laureates in Literature, only 18 women have been awarded. This tidbit piqued my interest, so without further ado, let’s dive in. The 18 female Nobel Laureates, the year they won, and what they were awarded for, along with a book by that author.
* I should preface this by noting that I have NOT read ANY of these books. I chose which books to feature based on a combination of the aesthetic of the cover and the star ratings on Amazon.com.
1909
AWARDED FOR:
“In appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings”
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils
1926
AWARDED FOR:
“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”
Chiaroscuro
1928
AWARDED FOR:
“principally for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages”
Kristin Lavransdatter 1: The Wreath
1938
AWARDED FOR:
“for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces”
The Good Earth Trilogy
1945
AWARDED FOR:
“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”
Madwomen
1966
AWARDED FOR:
“for her outstanding lyrical and dramatic writing, which interprets Israel’s destiny with touching strength”
Flight and Metamorphosis
1991
AWARDED FOR:
“who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity”
Jump and Other Stories
1993
AWARDED FOR:
“who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality”
Beloved
1996
AWARDED FOR:
“for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality”
MAP Collected and Last Poems
2004
AWARDED FOR:
“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”
The Piano Teacher
2007
AWARDED FOR:
“that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny”
The Grass Is Singing
2009
AWARDED FOR:
“who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed”
The Land of Green Plums
Lives of Girls and Women
2015
AWARDED FOR:
“for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time”
The Unwomanly Face of War
2018
AWARDED FOR:
“for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life”
Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead
2020
AWARDED FOR:
“for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal”
The Wild Iris
2022
AWARDED FOR:
“for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory”
The Years
2024
AWARDED FOR:
“for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life”
Human Acts
Which of these have you read and how did you like them?
May your life be as full as your bookshelf and as long as your TBR list.
Happy Reading!
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