STOCKHOLM (AP) – On Thursday, the winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in literature will be announced by the first ever female permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, Sara Danius. Will the prize awarding body choose to honor the occasion by picking a female winner? Will it break new ground by giving the prize to a journalist? Or will it rush to bestow the coveted prize on one of the many aging favorites? The secretive academy drops no hints on whom they are considering but that doesn’t stop literature buffs from guessing. Here is a look at some of the themes and potential candidates being mentioned in this year’s speculation:
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WOMEN
Of the total 107 Nobel literature prizes awarded so far, only 13 of them have gone to women. There has, however, been a clear pickup in the number of female laureates in recent years, and by picking Danius as the new permanent secretary, the Swedish Academy has taken another historic step toward more gender balance. If it were to pick a female winner this year, authors such as Canada’s Margaret Atwood or Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi may be considered. Maria Schottenius, literature critic at Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, also mentions France’s Marie Darrieussecq and American writer Marilynne Robinson as hugely talented female writers worth keeping an eye on.
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