“In works of great emotional power, he revealed the abyss that lies beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world,” says the official release published on the website announcing the new Nobel laureate in literature, British writer of Japanese origin Kazuo Ishiguro.

A native of Nagasaki, he moved with his family to Britain in 1960. The writer’s first novel, “Where the Hills Are in the Haze,” was published in 1982 and was dedicated to him hometown And new homeland. The novel tells the story of a Japanese woman who, after the suicide of her daughter and moving to England, cannot shake off haunting dreams of the destruction of Nagasaki.

Great success came to Ishiguro with the novel The Remains of the Day (1989),

dedicated to the fate of the former butler, who served one noble house all his life. For this novel, Ishiguro received the Booker Prize, and the jury voted unanimously, which is unprecedented for this award. In 1993, an American director filmed this book with and starring.

The writer's fame was greatly supported by the release in 2010 of the dystopian film Never Let Me Go, which takes place in an alternative Britain at the end of the twentieth century, where children who donate organs for cloning are raised in a special boarding school. The film stars Keira Knightley and others.

In 2005, this novel was included in the list of the hundred best according to the version.

The last novel Kazuo's The Buried Giant, published in 2015, is considered one of his strangest and most daring works. This is a medieval fantasy novel in which the journey of an elderly couple to a neighboring village to visit their son becomes a road to their own memories. Along the way, the couple defends themselves from dragons, ogres and other mythological monsters. You can read more about the book.

This year's award amount is $1.12 million. The award ceremony will take place at the Stockholm Philharmonic on December 10, the day of the death of the founder of the award.

Literary rate

Every year, it is the Nobel Prize in Literature that arouses particular interest among bookmakers - in no other discipline in which the award is given does such a stir occur. The list of this year's favorites, according to the bookmaker companies Ladbrokes and Unibet, included the Kenyan Ngugi Wa Thiong'o (5.50), the Canadian writer and critic (6.60), and the Japanese writer (odds 2.30). The current laureate’s fellow countryman, the author of “The Sheep Hunt” and “After Dark,” however, has been promised a Nobel for many years, just like another “eternal” literary Nobel nominee, the famous Syrian poet Adonis. However, both of them remain without a reward year after year, and the bookmakers are slightly perplexed.

Other candidates this year included: Chinese Ian Leanke, Israeli, Italian Claudio Magris, Spaniard, American singer and poet Patti Smith, from Austria, South Korean poet and prose writer Ko Eun, Nina Bouraoui from France, Peter Nadas from Hungary, American rapper Kanye West and others.

In the entire history of the award, bookmakers have made no mistakes only three times:

In 2003, when the victory was awarded to the South African writer John Coetzee, in 2006 with the famous Turk, and in 2008 with the Frenchman.

“It is unknown what the bookmakers are guided by when determining the favorites,” says the literary expert, editor-in-chief of the Gorky Media resource, “we only know that a few hours before the announcement, the odds for whoever turns out to be the winner then drop sharply to unfavorable values.” Whether this means that someone is supplying bookmakers with information several hours before the announcement of the winners, the expert refused to confirm. According to Milchin,

Bob Dylan was at the bottom of the list last year, as was Svetlana Alexievich in 2015.

According to the expert, a few days before the announcement of the current winner, bets on Canadian Margaret Atwood and Korean Ko Eun dropped sharply.

The name of the future laureate is traditionally kept in the strictest confidence until the announcement. The list of candidates compiled by the Swedish Academy is also classified and will only become known after 50 years.

The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by King Gustav III to support and develop the Swedish language and literature. It consists of 18 academicians who are elected to their posts for life by other members of the academy.

Since the delivery of the first Nobel Prize 112 years have passed. Among Russians worthy of this most prestigious award in the field literature, physics, chemistry, medicine, physiology, peace and economics there were only 20 people. As for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Russians have their own personal history in this area, not always with a positive ending.

First awarded in 1901, it bypassed the most important writer in history. Russian and world literature - Leo Tolstoy. In their 1901 address, members of the Royal Swedish Academy formally paid their respects to Tolstoy, calling him "the deeply revered patriarch modern literature” and “one of those powerful soulful poets, who in this case should be remembered first of all,” however, they referred to the fact that, in view of their convictions great writer he himself “never aspired to this kind of reward.” In his response letter, Tolstoy wrote that he was glad that he was spared the difficulties associated with the disposal of so much money and that he was pleased to receive notes of sympathy from so many respected persons. Things were different in 1906, when Tolstoy, preempting his nomination for the Nobel Prize, asked Arvid Järnefeld to use all kinds of connections so as not to be put in an unpleasant position and refuse this prestigious award.

In a similar way Nobel Prize in Literature surpassed several other outstanding Russian writers, among whom was also the genius of Russian literature - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. The first writer admitted to the “Nobel Club” was someone disliked by the Soviet government who emigrated to France Ivan Alekseevich Bunin.

In 1933, the Swedish Academy nominated Bunin for an award “for the strict skill with which he develops the traditions of Russian classical prose" Among the nominees this year were also Merezhkovsky and Gorky. Bunin received Nobel Prize in Literature largely thanks to the 4 books about Arsenyev’s life that had been published by that time. During the ceremony, Per Hallström, a representative of the Academy who presented the prize, expressed admiration for Bunin’s ability to “extraordinarily expressively and accurately describe real life" In his response speech, the laureate thanked the Swedish Academy for the courage and honor it showed to the emigrant writer.

A difficult story full of disappointment and bitterness accompanies the receipt of the Nobel Prize in Literature Boris Pasternak. Nominated annually from 1946 to 1958 and awarded this high award in 1958, Pasternak was forced to refuse it. Almost becoming the second Russian writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, the writer was persecuted in his homeland, receiving stomach cancer as a result of nervous shock, from which he died. Justice triumphed only in 1989, when his son Evgeniy Pasternak received an honorary award for him “for significant achievements in modern lyric poetry, and also for continuing the traditions of the great Russian epic novel."

Sholokhov Mikhail Alexandrovich received the Nobel Prize in Literature "for the novel" Quiet Don"" in 1965. It is worth noting that the authorship of this deep epic work, despite the fact that the manuscript of the work was found and a computer match was established with the printed edition, there are opponents who claim the impossibility of creating a novel, indicating deep knowledge of the events of the First World War and Civil War at such a young age. The writer himself, summing up the results of his work, said: “I would like my books to help people become better, to become purer soul… If I succeeded to some extent, I’m happy.”

Solzhenitsyn Alexander Isaevich, winner of the 1918 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the moral strength with which he followed the immutable traditions of Russian literature." Having spent most of his life in exile and exile, the writer created deep and frightening in its authenticity historical works. Upon learning of the Nobel Prize award, Solzhenitsyn expressed his desire to personally attend the ceremony. The Soviet government prevented the writer from receiving this prestigious award, calling it “politically hostile.” Thus, Solzhenitsyn never got to the desired ceremony, fearing that he would not be able to return from Sweden back to Russia.

In 1987 Brodsky Joseph Alexandrovich awarded Nobel Prize for Literature"for comprehensive creativity, imbued with clarity of thought and passion of poetry." In Russia, the poet never received lifelong recognition. He created while in exile in the USA, most of his works were written in impeccable English. In his speech as a Nobel laureate, Brodsky spoke about what was most dear to him - language, books and poetry...

The Nobel Prize in Literature is most prestigious international prize. Established from the fund of the Swedish chemical engineer and millionaire Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-96); according to his will, it is awarded annually to the person who has created an outstanding work of “ideal direction.” The selection of the candidate is carried out by the Royal Swedish Academy in Stockholm; a new laureate is determined at the end of October each year, and is awarded on December 10 (the day of Nobel's death) Golden medal; At the same time, the laureate makes a speech, usually of a programmatic nature. Laureates also have the right to speak Nobel lecture. The amount of the premium varies. Usually awarded for the entire work of the writer, less often - for individual works. The Nobel Prize began to be awarded in 1901; in some years it was not awarded (1914, 1918, 1935, 194043, 1950).

Nobel Prize Laureates in Literature:

The Nobel Prize laureates are the following writers: A. Sully-Prudhomme (1901), B. Bjornson (1903), F. Mistral, H. Echegaray (1904), G. Sienkiewicz (1905), G. Carducci (1906), R. Kipling (1906), S. Lagerlöf (1909), P. Heise (1910), M. Maeterlinck (1911), G. Hauptmann (1912), R. Tagore (1913), R. Rolland (1915), K.G.V. von Heydenstam (1916), K. Gjellerup and H. Pontoppidan (1917), K. Spitteler (1919), K. Hamsun (1920), A. France (1921), J. Benavente y Martinez (1922), U B. Yeats (1923), B. Reymont (1924), J. B. Shaw (1925), G. Deledza (1926), S. Unseg (1928), T. Mann (1929), S. Lewis (1930 ), E.A.Karlfeldt (1931), J.Galsworthy (1932), I.A.Bunin (1933), L.Pirandello (1934), Y.O'Neill (1936), R.Martin du Gard (1937 ), P. Back (1938), F. Sillanpää (1939), I.V. Jensen (1944), G. Mistral (1945), G. Hesse (1946), A. Zhid (1947), T.S. Eliot (1948), W. Faulkner (1949), P. Lagerquist (1951), F. Mauriac (1952), E. Hemingway (1954), H. Laxness (1955), H. R. Jimenez (1956), A .Camus (1957), B.L. Pasternak (1958), S. Quasimodo (1959), Saint-John Perse (1960), I. Andrich (1961), J. Steinbeck (1962), G. Seferiadis (1963) , J.P. Sartre (1964), M.A. Sholokhov (1965), S.I. Agnon and Nellie Zaks (1966), M.A. Asturias (1967), Y. Kawabata (1968), S. Beckett (1969), A.I. Solzhenitsyn (1970), P. Neruda (1971), G. Böll (1972), P. White (1973), H. E. Martinson, E. Ionson (1974), E. Montale (1975), S. Bellow (1976), V. Alexandre (1977), I. B. Singer (1978), O. Elitis (1979), C. Milos (1980), E. Canetti (1981), G. Garcia Marquez (1982), W. Golding (1983), Y. Seifersh (1984), K. Simon (1985), V. Soyinka (1986), I. A. Brodsky (1987), N. Mahfuz (1988), K.H.Sela (1989), O.Paz (1990), N.Gordimer (1991), D.Walcott (1992), T.Morrison (1993), K.Oe (1994), S.Heaney (1995) , V. Shimbarskaya (1996), D. Fo (1997), J. Saramagu (1998), G. Grass (1999), Gao Sinjian (2000).

Among the Nobel Prize laureates in literature is the German historian T. Mommsen (1902), German philosopher R. Aiken (1908), French philosopher A. Bergson (1927), English philosopher, political scientist, publicist B. Russell (1950), English political figure and historian W. Churchill (1953).

The following people refused the Nobel Prize: B. Pasternak (1958), J. P. Sartre (1964). At the same time, L. Tolstoy, M. Gorky, J. Joyce, B. Brecht were not awarded the prize.

On December 10, 1933, King Gustav V of Sweden awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature to the writer Ivan Bunin, who became the first Russian writer to receive this high award. In total, the prize, established by the inventor of dynamite Alfred Bernhard Nobel in 1833, was received by 21 people from Russia and the USSR, five of them in the field of literature. True, historically it happened that for Russian poets and writers, the Nobel Prize was fraught with big problems.

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin distributed the Nobel Prize to friends

It is known that Nobel laureates have the right to decide for themselves how to spend the money they receive. Some people invest in the development of science, some in charity, some in their own business. Bunin, a creative person and devoid of “practical ingenuity,” disposed of his bonus, which amounted to 170,331 crowns, completely irrationally. Poet and literary critic Zinaida Shakhovskaya recalled: “ Returning to France, Ivan Alekseevich... in addition to money, began to organize feasts, distribute “benefits” to emigrants, and donate funds to support various societies. Finally, on the advice of well-wishers, he invested the remaining amount in some “win-win business” and was left with nothing».

Ivan Bunin is the first emigrant writer to be published in Russia. True, the first publications of his stories appeared in the 1950s, after the writer’s death. Some of his works, stories and poems, were published in his homeland only in the 1990s.

Dear God, why are you
Gave us passions, thoughts and worries,
Do I thirst for business, fame and pleasure?
Joyful are cripples, idiots,
The leper is the most joyful of all.
(I. Bunin. September, 1917)

Boris Pasternak refused the Nobel Prize

The writing community in the poet’s homeland took this news extremely negatively and on October 27, Pasternak was unanimously expelled from the Union of Writers of the USSR, at the same time filing a petition to deprive Pasternak of Soviet citizenship. In the USSR, Pasternak's receipt of the prize was associated only with his novel Doctor Zhivago. The literary newspaper wrote: “Pasternak received “thirty pieces of silver,” for which the Nobel Prize was used. He was awarded for agreeing to play the role of bait on the rusty hook of anti-Soviet propaganda... An inglorious end awaits the resurrected Judas, Doctor Zhivago, and his author, whose lot will be popular contempt.”.

The mass campaign launched against Pasternak forced him to refuse the Nobel Prize. The poet sent a telegram to the Swedish Academy in which he wrote: “ Due to the importance that the award given to me has received in the society to which I belong, I must refuse it. Please don't take my voluntary refusal as an insult.».

It is worth noting that in the USSR until 1989, even in school curriculum There were no references to Pasternak’s work in the literature. The first to decide to introduce the Soviet people to Pasternak’s creative work was director Eldar Ryazanov. In his comedy “The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!” (1976) he included the poem “There will be no one in the house”, transforming it into an urban romance, which was performed by the bard Sergei Nikitin. Ryazanov later included in his film “ Love affair at work"An excerpt from another poem by Pasternak - “Loving others is a heavy cross..." (1931). True, it sounded in a farcical context. But it is worth noting that at that time the very mention of Pasternak’s poems was a very bold step.

It's easy to wake up and see clearly,
Shake out the verbal trash from the heart
And live without getting clogged in the future,
All this is not a big trick.
(B. Pasternak, 1931)

Mikhail Sholokhov, receiving the Nobel Prize, did not bow to the monarch

Award presenter Soviet writer Gustav Adolf VI called him "one of the most outstanding writers our time". Sholokhov did not bow to the king, as prescribed by the rules of etiquette. Some sources claim that he did this intentionally with the words: “We Cossacks do not bow to anyone. In front of the people, please, but I won’t do it in front of the king...”

Alexander Solzhenitsyn was deprived of Soviet citizenship because of the Nobel Prize

On October 8, 1970, “for the moral strength drawn from the tradition of great Russian literature,” Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize. This became the reason for persecution of Solzhenitsyn in the USSR. In 1971, all the writer’s manuscripts were confiscated, and in the next 2 years, all his publications were destroyed. In 1974, a Decree of the Presidium was issued Supreme Council USSR, which for the systematic commission of actions incompatible with belonging to the citizenship of the USSR and causing damage to the USSR,” Alexander Solzhenitsyn was deprived of Soviet citizenship and deported from the USSR.

The writer’s citizenship was returned only in 1990, and in 1994 he and his family returned to Russia and actively became involved in public life.

Nobel Prize winner Joseph Brodsky was convicted of parasitism in Russia

In 1972, Brodsky turned to Secretary General Brezhnev with a request to work in his homeland as a translator, but his request remained unanswered, and he was forced to emigrate. Brodsky first lives in Vienna, London, and then moves to the United States, where he becomes a professor at New York, Michigan and other universities in the country.

On December 10, 1987, Joseph Brosky was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “for his comprehensive creativity, imbued with clarity of thought and passion of poetry.” It is worth saying that Brodsky, after Vladimir Nabokov, is the second Russian writer who writes in English language as in native language.

The sea was not visible. In the whitish darkness,
swaddled on all sides, absurd
it was thought that the ship was heading towards land -
if it was a ship at all,
and not a clot of fog, as if poured
who whitened it in milk?
(B. Brodsky, 1972)

Interesting fact
For the Nobel Prize in different time nominated, but never received it, such famous personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Franklin Roosevelt, Nicholas Roerich and Leo Tolstoy.

Literature lovers will definitely be interested in this book, which is written with disappearing ink.

Nobel Prize– one of the world's most prestigious prizes, awarded annually for outstanding scientific research, revolutionary inventions or major contributions to culture or society.

On November 27, 1895, A. Nobel drew up a will, which provided for the allocation of certain funds for the award awards in five areas: physics, chemistry, physiology and medicine, literature and contributions to world peace. And in 1900, the Nobel Foundation was created - a private, independent, non-governmental organization with an initial capital of 31 million Swedish crowns. Since 1969, on the initiative of the Swedish Bank, awards have also been made prizes in economics.

Since the establishment of the awards, strict rules for selecting laureates have been in place. Intellectuals from all over the world participate in the process. Thousands of minds work to ensure that the most worthy candidate receives the Nobel Prize.

In total, to date, five Russian-speaking writers have received this award.

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin(1870-1953), Russian writer, poet, honorary academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1933 “for the strict skill with which he develops the traditions of Russian classical prose.” In his speech when presenting the prize, Bunin noted the courage of the Swedish Academy, which honored the emigrant writer (he emigrated to France in 1920). Ivan Alekseevich Bunin is the greatest master of Russian realistic prose.

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak(1890-1960), Russian poet, laureate of the 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature “for outstanding services to modern lyric poetry and to the field of great Russian prose.” He was forced to refuse the award under threat of expulsion from the country. The Swedish Academy recognized Pasternak's refusal of the prize as forced and in 1989 awarded a diploma and medal to his son.

Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov(1905-1984), Russian writer, laureate of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature "for artistic power and the integrity of the epic about Don Cossacks at a turning point for Russia." In his speech during the awards ceremony, Sholokhov said his goal was to “extol the nation of workers, builders and heroes.” Having started out as a realistic writer who was not afraid to show deep life contradictions, Sholokhov in some of his works found himself captive of socialist realism.

Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn(1918-2008), Russian writer, winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the moral strength derived from the tradition of great Russian literature." The Soviet government considered the decision of the Nobel Committee “politically hostile,” and Solzhenitsyn, fearing that after his trip, returning to his homeland would be impossible, accepted the award, but did not attend the award ceremony. In their artistic literary works As a rule, he touched upon acute socio-political issues and actively opposed communist ideas, the political system of the USSR and the policies of its authorities.

Joseph Alexandrovich Brodsky(1940-1996), poet, laureate of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his multifaceted creativity, marked by acuteness of thought and deep poetry.” In 1972, he was forced to emigrate from the USSR and lived in the USA (the World Encyclopedia calls him American). I.A. Brodsky is the youngest writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. The peculiarities of the poet's lyrics are the understanding of the world as a single metaphysical and cultural whole, the identification of the limitations of man as a subject of consciousness.

If you want to get more specific information about the life and work of Russian poets and writers, to get to know their works better, online tutors We are always happy to help you. Online teachers will help you analyze a poem or write a review about the work of the selected author. Training is based on specially developed software. Qualified teachers provide assistance in completing homework and explaining incomprehensible material; help prepare for the State Exam and the Unified State Exam. The student chooses for himself whether to conduct classes with the selected tutor for a long time, or to use the teacher’s help only in specific situations when difficulties arise with a certain task.

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