Nobel Prize in Literature Winners

The Nobel Prize in Literature honors an author, not a single work

Many people assume the Nobel Prize in Literature is given to one particular novel or poetry collection, but in principle it is awarded for a laureate's entire body of work. In fact, the Nobel Committee's official citations name a specific title only in a handful of cases, such as Thomas Mann'sBuddenbrooks and Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. The “featured work” shown for each laureate on this page may be the work named in the citation, or—where none was named—a work chosen to represent the author's literary world. Each entry indicates which case applies.

Some years had no award

Largely because of the two World Wars, the Nobel Prize in Literature was not awarded in seven years (1914, 1918, 1935, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943). In addition, the prize was shared by two writers in 1904, 1917, 1966 and 1974. This page includes cards only for years in which the prize was awarded.

Notes

This page is educational content introducing Nobel Prize in Literature laureates and their representative works. The selection rationales are paraphrased from the Nobel Committee's official citations, and the author biographies and work summaries are brief overviews based on generally known facts and critical assessments. The plot summaries are PlayInfoBox's own paraphrases of the original works and cannot fully substitute for the style and nuance of the actual texts—if a work interests you, we strongly encourage you to read the original.

Frequently Asked Questions