The Swedish Academy will not award the 2018 Nobel literature prize because of a sexual misconduct scandal that led to the resignation of a string of board members.
The Academy acknowledged that its reputation had been damaged by allegations against the husband of one of its members and the admission that the names of some prize-winners had been leaked.
“The present decision was arrived at in view of the currently diminished Academy and the reduced public confidence in the Academy,” the academy said in a statement.
The Academy, composed of Sweden’s literary elite, said it aimed to award two prizes in 2019, including the 2018 one.
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“We find it necessary to commit time to recovering public confidence in the Academy before the next laureate can be announced,” Anders Olsson, the interim permanent secretary of the Academy, said.
The turmoil caused by sexual allegations against the husband of one of the board members is unprecedented for the Academy, a revered institution established by King Gustav III in 1786 and still under royal patronage.
The Nobel Foundation, which administers the estate of dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel, said the crisis at the Academy had “adversely affected” the Nobel Prize.
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“Their decision underscores the seriousness of the situation and will help safeguard the long-term reputation of the Nobel Prize,” the Foundation said in statement.
A postponement or cancellation of the prestigious prize has not occurred in decades.
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