Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to 10 women. With yesterday's announcement, the Swedish Academy in Stockholm has raised this number to a whopping 11. Congratulations, Doris Lessing!
Professor Horace Engdahl, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, made the announcement in five languages: Swedish, English, French, German and Russian. The fact that the announcement is multilingual is my favorite thing about it. Here it is:
Giving a Nobel Lecture is now pretty standard but in the early years of the Nobel Prize in Literature, most recipients only delivered a short Banquet Speech (and still do so in addition to the Lecture). Usually, the Banquet Speech consisted of little more than thanking the Academy but on some occasions, it was more comprehensive and contemplative. Selma Lagerlöf's Banquet Speech takes the form a dream story in which she imagines meeting her father in Heaven and discussing with him the debt she feels towards her audience and fellow authors. Wislawa Szymborska's delivered her very short speech in French. The only female writer for whom we have no Banquet Speech is the Sardinian novelist Grazia Deledda. I'm curious to know why that's the case but, at any rate, I've provided excerpts from the Banquet Speeches and Nobel Lectures of the 10 female recipients of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Doris Lessing's speech will appear in the coming weeks.
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