The Swedish Academy, responsible for handing out
the annual Nobel Prize in literature will not present the award this year as it
struggles to contain the damage from a sex abuse scandal.
Anders Olsson, the acting
Permanent Secretary of the Stockholm-based body, announced that the 2018 prize
will instead be given in 2019, a decision that "was arrived at in view of
the currently diminished Academy and the reduced public confidence in the
Academy."
"Work on the selection of a laureate is at
an advanced stage and will continue as usual in the months ahead but the
Academy needs time to engage a larger number of active members and regain
confidence in its work, before the next Literature Prize winner is
declared," the academy said.
It will be the first time since 1943 — in the
midst of World War II — that the prestigious prize has not been awarded.
Last month, the head of the
Swedish Academy, Permanent Secretary Sara Danius, stepped down amid criticism
of the institution's handling of accusations of sexual assault and harassment against
Jean-Claude Arnault, the husband of former academy member Katarina Frostenson.
Three members withdrew from the 18-member
academy in protest after it voted not to remove Frostenson. She later resigned.
Following the meeting, the institution issued a
statement acknowledging that "trust in the Swedish Academy has been seriously
damaged" and questioning whether its Nobel board could carry out the 2018
selection for the prize "in a credible manner."
The allegations against Arnault "first
surfaced last November when the Stockholm daily Dagens
Nyheter reported that the man “allegedly
sexually assaulted or harassed at least 18 women over the past two decades on
properties that belong to the Academy."
Even more spectacular was the
revelation that Sweden's heiress Crown Princess Victoria was among Arnault's alleged victim.
Shortly after the allegations first came to
light, the Nobel body said it was cutting all ties and funding to Arnault, who
runs a cultural club in Stockholm.
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Article from The Two-Way NPR (edited)
