October is here again. As always, we’ve been debating who will win the Nobel Prize for Literature this year, and arguing passionately for authors we believe deserve the highest honor in literature. Every year, we try to make the Book Box for this month extra special.
The Literature Prize will be awarded on October 10. Last year, we were thrilled when Jon Fosse won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He’s been on our list for years. We featured him in a Book Box in 2016, and to celebrate his win, we featured his works as a bonus book with last October’s Book Box. Two years ago, we speculated over on Lit Hub on a list of 12 writers who should win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Annie Ernaux was on that list and we were thrilled that she won – we had showcased her works in our Book Boxes twice, first in August 2021 and again in June 2022. The wonderful Alexander Chee even reminded us on Twitter that we had actually predicted her win in one of the letters we write to go with each Book Box. Here’s a peek at the August 2021 letter, where we said:
You can find our extended list of almost 50 writers here.
Our list will be incomplete if we do not add Alexis Wright to it. We featured her fourth novel, Praiseworthy, in the February Book Box. Wright is a Waanyi writer and activist who has won several awards for her novels, non-fiction, and essays. She is also a vocal advocate for Aboriginal land rights, environmental justice, and cultural preservation. The problems that the Waanyi Nation deals with – climate change, access to natural resources, the effects of colonialism, racism, issues of sovereignty and self-determination, and the question of identity and authenticity – are central to Wright’s literary universe. Praiseworthy is a sweeping, powerful epic that unites Wright’s concerns with her beautiful prose.
I think it would be fun to see an Asian or African writer win, especially somebody writing in their native, non-colonial language. Examples: Senegalese writer Boubcar Boris Diop who has written in Wolof, in addition to French, and Kenyan writer Ngugi Wa’ Thiong’o, who has written in his native Gikuyu, in addition to English. Or even somebody like Indian writer Geetanjali Shree, writing in Hindi. Last year, we also recommended Chinese writers Yan Lianke, Yu Hua and Can Xue. The reason we often say this is not because there isn’t great writing happening in English or French (there definitely is!), but rather that there is also great writing happening in other languages, often overlooked by the English speaking world in specific and the West at large.
But of course, like I always say, I wouldn’t be mad if Peter Nadas (Hungarian) or Gerald Murnane (English, Australian) win!
I’d love to hear who you think! Who do you think should win – and who do you think will?
