2026 Nobel Prize in Literature

Every year, beginning in November of last year, thousands of letters across the world are sent to the Swedish Academy, endorsing well celebrated and little-known authors for the Nobel Prize.

Such nominations can only be done by qualified nominators, namely members of the Swedish Academy and of other academies, institutions and societies which are similar to it in construction and purpose; professors of literature and of linguistics at universities and colleges; previous Nobel Prize laureates in Literature; and chairpersons of writers' organizations qualifying as representative of their countries' production of literature and belles lettres.^[3] Among the fundamental rules in making nominations include not making them public – but some still do as previous years – nor nominating oneself which automatically disqualifies the nominee during deliberations.^[4][5]

Despite the secrecy, many notable writers around the globe are perennially expected to be among the official nominees and favored to win the prestigious literary prize.

Among last year's favorite authors to win the prize, according to The Guardian, El País and Literary Hub, include Margaret Atwood, Can Xue, Anne Carson, Mircea Cărtărescu, Amitav Ghosh, Pierre Michon, Haruki Murakami, Gerald Murnane, Péter Nádas, Thomas Pynchon, Cristina Rivera Garza, Salman Rushdie, Ersi Sotiropoulos, Enrique Vila-Matas, Alexis Wright and Lyudmila Ulitskaya.^[6][7][8]

The following list features authors considered worthy of the prize by some sources along with the current number of their books the Nobel Library possess.^{[9][10][11][12]} The number of copies helps determine the Swedish Academy's interest on a particular author.^[13]

Author	Birth Year	Country	Number of Books	Language	Genre(s)
Peter Ackroyd	1949	United Kingdom	22	English	novel, biography, essays, poetry
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie	1977	Nigeria	19	English	novel, short story, essays
Naja Marie Aidt	1963	Denmark	34	Danish	poetry, short story, novel, drama
César Aira	1949	Argentina	37	Spanish	novel, short story, essays, translation
Ibrahim al-Koni	1948	Libya	31	Arab	novel, essays, history
Isabel Allende	1942	Chile	35	Spanish	novel, short story, memoirs
José Eduardo Agualusa	1960	Angola	23	Portuguese	novel, short story, essays
Homero Aridjis	1940	Mexico	64	Spanish	poetry, novel, drama, short story, essays
Fernando Arrabal	1932	Spain	35	Spanish/French	drama, novel, essays, poetry
Margaret Atwood	1939	Canada	93	English	novel, short story, poetry, essays, literary criticism
Bernardo Atxaga	1951	Spain	23	Basque	novel, short story, poetry
Lars Åke Augustsson	1949	Sweden	21	Swedish	journalism, novel, short story, poetry
Solvej Balle	1962	Denmark	20	Danish	novel, short story
John Banville	1945	Ireland	23	English	novel, short story, drama, screenplay, essays
Salim Barakat	1951	Syria	19	Arabian	novel, poetry
Johan Bargum	1943	Finland	18	Swedish	novel, screenplay
Alessandro Baricco	1958	Italy	25	Italian	novel, drama, short story, essays
Julian Barnes	1946	United Kingdom	37	English	novel, short story, essays
Bei Dao	1949	China	48	Chinese	poetry, short story, essays, memoirs
Tahar Ben Jelloun	1944	Morocco	66	French	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Aase Berg	1967	Sweden	26	Swedish	poet, literary critic
Marcel Beyer	1965	Germany	18	German	novel, poetry, essays
Wolf Biermann	1936	Germany	23	German	poetry, songwriting
Ana Blandiana	1942	Romania	25	Romanian	novel, poetry, essays, drama, translation
Thomas Boberg	1960	Denmark	20	Danish	poetry, travel memory, short story
Nina Bouraoui	1957	France	36	French	novel, songwriter
William Boyd	1952	United Kingdom	19	English	novel, short story, screenplay
T. C. Boyle	1948	United States	19	English	novel, short story
Volker Braun	1939	Germany	28	German	poetry, drama, short story
Ernst Brunner	1950	Sweden	38	Swedish	novel, poetry, literary criticism
Suzanne Brøgger	1944	Denmark	54	Danish	novel, poetry, journalism
Carina Burman	1960	Sweden	37	Swedish	novel, literary criticism
Nina Burton	1946	Sweden	24	Swedish	poetry, essays
Eva-Stina Byggmästar	1967	Finland	29	Swedish	poetry, essays
Dmitry Bykov	1967	Russia	18	Russian	novel, poetry, essays
Can Xue	1953	China	27	Chinese	novel, short story, literary criticism
Peter Carey	1943	Australia	18	English	novel, short story
Emmanuel Carrère	1957	France	22	French	novel, essays, biography, screenplay
Anne Carson	1950	Canada	49	English	poetry, essays
Mircea Cărtărescu	1958	Romania	48	Romanian	novel, poetry, short story, literary criticism, essays
Javier Cercas	1962	Spain	36	Spanish	novel, essays, translation
Patrick Chamoiseau	1953	Martinique	31	French	novel, essays, autobiography, screenplay
Hélène Cixous	1937	France	78	French	essays, literary criticism, philosophy, drama, poetry
Mia Couto	1955	Mozambique	62	Portuguese	novel, short story, essays
Rachel Cusk	1967	United Kingdom	26	English	novel, essays, drama
Edwidge Danticat	1969	Haiti	19	English	novel, short story
Lydia Davis	1947	United States	25	English	short story, novel, essays
Don DeLillo	1936	United States	37	English	novel, short story, drama, screenplay, essays
René Depestre	1926	Haiti	19	French	poetry, novel, essays
Anita Desai	1937	India	26	English	novel, short story
Ananda Devi	1957	Mauritius	27	French	novel, short story, poetry
Dương Thu Hương	1947	Vietnam	18	Vietnamese	novel, short story, essays
Jean Echenoz	1947	France	26	French	novel, short story, essays
Inger Edelfeldt	1956	Sweden	34	Swedish	novel, short story, translation
Kerstin Ekman	1933	Sweden	72	Swedish	novel, essays, screenplay
Gyrðir Elíasson	1961	Iceland	48	Icelandic	novel, poetry, short story, translation
Anna Enquist	1945	Netherlands	23	Dutch	novel, poetry
Mariana Enríquez	1973	Argentina	19	Spain	short story, novel
Viktor Yerofeyev	1947	Russia	23	Russian	novel, essays
Louise Erdrich	1954	United States	20	English	novel, poetry
Jenny Erpenbeck	1967	Germany	22	German	novel, short story, drama, essays
Knut Faldbakken	1941	Norway	21	Norwegian	novel, short story, essays
Nuruddin Farah	1945	Somalia	21	English	novel, short story, drama
Dominique Fernandez	1929	France	21	French	novel, essays
Elena Ferrante	1943	Italy	25	Italian	novel, essays
Aris Fioretos	1960	Sweden	55	Swedish	novel, essays, translation
Magnus Florin	1955	Sweden	35	Swedish	novel, drama, essays
Kjartan Fløgstad	1944	Norway	48	Norwegian	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Richard Ford	1944	United States	22	English	novel, short story, screenplay
Tua Forsström	1947	Sweden	38	Swedish	poetry, drama, essays
Niels Frank	1963	Denmark	24	Danish	poetry, essays
Katarina Frostenson	1953	Sweden	100	Swedish	poetry, biography, essays, drama, translation
Robin Fulton	1937	United Kingdom	32	English	poetry, essays, translation
Eric Fylkeson	1950	Sweden	24	Swedish	poetry, essays
Jonas Gardell	1963	Sweden	24	Swedish	novel, drama, screenplay
Jörgen Gassilewski	1961	Sweden	23	Swedish	poetry, essays
Sylvie Germain	1954	France	23	French	novel, short story, essays
Amitav Ghosh	1956	India	29	English	novel, essays
Pere Gimferrer	1945	Spain	55	Spanish/Catalan	poetry, novel, essays, translation, literary criticism
Georgi Gospodinov	1968	Bulgaria	19	Bulgary	novel, essays
Luis Goytisolo	1935	Spain	18	Spanish	novel, short story, essays
David Grossman	1954	Israel	37	Hebrew	novel, essays
Vigdís Grímsdóttir	1953	Iceland	21	Icelandic	poetry, short story, drama
Durs Grünbein	1962	Germany	74	German	poetry, essays, novel
Einar Már Guðmundsson	1954	Iceland	47	Icelandic	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Lennart Hagerfors	1946	Sweden	24	Swedish	novel, essays
Gunnar Harding	1940	Sweden	83	Swedish	poetry, novel, essays, translation
Dick Harrison	1966	Sweden	35	Swedish	history, essays, novel
Paal-Helge Haugen	1945	Norway	27	Norwegian	novel, poetry, drama
Christoph Hein	1944	Germany	29	German	novel, drama, essays
Helle Helle	1965	Denmark	18	Danish	novel, short story
Christina Hesselholdt	1962	Denmark	24	Danish	novel, short story, essays
Michel Houellebecq	1957	France	38	French	novel, poetry, essays
Siri Hustvedt	1955	United States	23	English	novel, essays, translation
Drago Jančar	1948	Slovenia	26	Slovenian	novel, short story, drama, essays
Ann Jäderlund	1955	Sweden	34	Swedish	poetry, drama
Carsten Jensen	1952	Denmark	21	Danish	novel, essays, literary criticism
Per Christian Jersild	1935	Sweden	42	Swedish	novel, essays
Lídia Jorge	1946	Portugal	34	Portuguese	novel, short story, essays, poetry
Theodor Kallifatides	1938	Sweden	43	Swedish	novel, poetry, essays, translation
Einar Kárason	1955	Iceland	21	Icelandic	novel, poetry, essays
Daniel Kehlmann	1975	Germany	24	German	novel, drama
Eeva Kilpi	1928	Finland	24	Finnish	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Jamaica Kincaid	1949	United States	27	English	novel, essays, short story
Esther Kinsky	1956	Germany	22	German	novel, poetry, translation
Erling Kittelsen	1946	Norway	21	Norwegian	poetry, novel, short story, drama, translation
Jan Kjærstad	1953	Norway	32	Norwegian	novel, short story, essays
Bengt af Klintberg	1938	Sweden	35	Swedish	short story, essays
Karl Ove Knausgård	1968	Norway	56	Norwegian	novel, autobiography, essays
Ko Un	1933	South Korea	37	Korean	poetry, essays
Pavel Kohout	1928	Czechia	24	Czech	novel, drama, poetry, autobiography
Ibrahim al-Koni	1948	Libya	31	Arabian	novel
Christian Kracht	1966	Switzerland	18	German	novel, essay, screenplay
Hanna Krall	1935	Poland	70	Polish	novel, essays
Julia Kristeva	1941	France	38	French	novel, essays, philosophy
Ryszard Krynicki	1943	Poland	20	Polish	poetry, translation
Abdellatif Laabi	1942	Morocco	17	French	poetry, drama, novel
Marie-Hélène Lafon	1962	France	18	French	novel
Stig Larsson	1955	Sweden	39	Swedish	novel, short story, drama, poetry, essays, screenplay
Peter Laugesen	1942	Denmark	38	Danish	poetry, drama
Kristoffer Leandoer	1962	Sweden	49	Swedish	poetry, short story, novel, essays
Mara Lee	1972	Sweden	23	Swedish	poetry, novel, translation
Sven-Eric Liedman	1939	Sweden	26	Swedish	essays, philosophy, history
Rosa Liksom	1958	Finland	24	Finnish	novel, short story
Birgitta Lillpers	1958	Sweden	21	Swedish	novel, poetry
Ewa Lipska	1945	Poland	43	Polish	poetry, essays
Lotta Lotass	1964	Sweden	45	Swedish	novel, short story, drama, essays
Ulf Lundell	1949	Sweden	25	Swedish	songwriting, novel, poetry
Marie Lundquist	1950	Sweden	39	Swedish	poetry, essays, translation
Alain Mabanckou	1966	Republic of Congo	34	French	novel, poetry, essays
Robert Macfarlane	1976	United Kingdom	20	English	essays
Svend Åge Madsen	1939	Denmark	32	Danish	novel, short story, drama
Claudio Magris	1939	Italy	101	Italian	essays, translation, novel, short story
Andreï Makine	1957	France	27	French	novel
Norman Manea	1936	Romania	23	Romanian	novel, essays
Dacia Maraini	1936	Italy	27	Italian	novel, short story, essays, drama
Merete Mazzarella	1945	Finland	38	Finnish	essays, novel, autobiography, literary criticism
Ian McEwan	1948	United Kingdom	39	English	novel, short story, screenplay, drama
Eduardo Mendoza Garriga	1943	Spain	27	Spanish	novel, short story, drama, essays
Juan José Millás	1946	Spain	19	Spanish	novel, short story
Rosa Montero	1951	Spain	20	Spanish	novel, short story
Quim Monzó	1952	Spain	24	Catalan	novel, short story, essays
Terézia Mora	1971	Hungary	24	Hungarian	novel, poetry, screenplays
Paul Muldoon	1951	Ireland	40	English	poetry, essays, literary criticism
Antonio Muñoz Molina	1956	Spain	50	Spanish	novel, short story, essays
Haruki Murakami	1949	Japan	49	Japanese	novel, short story, essays
Gerald Murnane	1939	Australia	25	English	novel, short story, essays, poetry, memoirs
Adolf Muschg	1934	Switzerland	26	German	novel, poetry, essays
Péter Nádas	1942	Hungary	69	Hungarian	novel, drama, essays
Marie NDiaye	1967	France	29	French	novel, short story, essays, drama, screenplay
Carlos Nejar	1939	Brazil	24	Portuguese	poetry, novel, essays, translation
Ulf Karl Olov Nilsson	1965	Sweden	23	Swedish	poetry, essays
Svante Nordin	1946	Sweden	39	Swedish	essays, philosophy
Amélie Nothomb	1966	Belgium	38	French	novel, short story
Fredrik Nyberg	1968	Sweden	20	Swedish	poetry, essays
Joyce Carol Oates	1938	United States	182	English	novel, drama, poetry, short story, essays, literary criticism
Yōko Ogawa	1962	Japan	33	Japanese	novel, short story
Ben Okri	1959	Nigeria	30	English	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir	1958	Iceland	28	Icelandic	novel, poetry
Tommy Olofsson	1960	Sweden	25	Swedish	poetry, essays
Michael Ondaatje	1943	Canada	30	English	novel, poetry, essays
Cynthia Ozick	1928	United States	27	English	novel, short story, essays
Vasilis Papageorgiou	1955	Sweden	22	Swedish	novel, drama, poetry, essays
Victor Pelevin	1962	Russia	46	Russian	novel, short story, essays
Arturo Pérez-Reverte	1951	Spain	17	Spanish	novel, article
Cristina Peri Rossi	1941	Uruguay	18	Spanish	poetry, novel, short story
Malte Persson	1976	Sweden	27	Swedish	poetry, essays, translation
Lyudmila Petrushevskaya	1938	Russia	47	Russian	novel, short story, drama, poetry, essays
Agneta Pleijel	1940	Sweden	59	Swedish	novel, poetry, drama, essays, literary criticism
Álvaro Pombo	1939	Spain	23	Spanish	novel, short story, poetry
Thomas Pynchon	1937	United States	22	English	novel, short story, essays
Pascal Quignard	1948	France	50	French	novel, short story, essays
Sergio Ramírez	1942	Nicaragua	17	Spanish	short story, novel, essays
Björn Ranelid	1949	Sweden	36	Swedish	novel, short story, biography, essays
Renzo Ricchi	1936	Italy	22	Italian	drama, poetry, short story, essays
Carme Riera	1948	Spain	31	Catalan/Spanish	novel, short story, essays, screenplay
Cristina Rivera Garza	1964	Mexico	19	Spanish	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Manuel Rivas	1957	Spain	16	Galician/Spanish	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Marilynne Robinson	1943	United States	21	English	novel, essays
Dina Rubina	1953	Israel	20	Hebrew	novel, short story, essays
Luiz Ruffato	1961	Brazil	25	Portuguese	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Salman Rushdie	1947	United Kingdom	61	English	novel, short story, essays, autobiography
Ali Ahmad Said	1930	Syria	78	Arab	poetry, essays, translation
Olga Sedakova	1949	Russia	33	Russian	poetry, essays, translation
Steve Sem-Sandberg	1958	Sweden	45	Swedish	novel, essays
Sigurjón "Sjón" Sigurðsson	1962	Iceland	40	Icelandic	novel, poetry, drama, screenplay
Marie Silkeberg	1961	Sweden	37	Swedish	poetry, translation
Ali Smith	1962	United Kingdom	30	English	novel, short story, drama, essays
Zadie Smith	1975	United Kingdom	23	English	novel, short story, essays, drama
Vladimir Sorokin	1955	Russia	44	Russian	novel, short story, drama, screenplay, essays
Peter Stamm	1963	Switzerland	25	German	drama, novel, essays
Andrzej Stasiuk	1960	Poland	46	Polish	novel, short story, essays
Jón Kalman Stefánsson	1963	Iceland	23	Icelandic	novel, poetry
Botho Strauss	1944	Germany	65	German	drama, novel, essays
Su Tong	1963	China	22	Chinese	novel, short story, essays
Graham Swift	1949	United Kingdom	23	English	novel, short story
Pia Tafdrup	1952	Denmark	56	Danish	poetry, essays
Yoko Tawada	1960	Japan	46	Japanese/German	novel, short story, poetry
Paul Theroux	1941	United States	27	English	novel, short story, essays
Søren Ulrik Thomsen	1956	Denmark	22	Danish	poetry, essays
Kirsten Thorup	1942	Denmark	25	Danish	novel, short story
Pär Thörn	1977	Sweden	21	Swedish	poetry, essays
Thomas Tidholm	1943	Sweden	21	Swedish	poetry, drama, short story, translation
Enrico Tiozzo	1945	Italy	51	Italian	essays, literary criticism
Jean-Philippe Toussaint	1957	Belgium	22	French	novel, screenplay
Colm Tóibín	1955	Ireland	54	English	novel, short story, essays
Viktoriya Tokareva	1937	Russia	25	Russian	novel, short story, screenplay
Tatyana Tolstaya	1951	Russia	31	Russian	novel, short story, essays
Jáchym Topol	1962	Czechia	18	Czech	novel, poetry
Michel Tremblay	1942	Canada	30	French	novel, short story, drama, screenplay
Antti Tuuri	1944	Finland	21	Finnish	novel, translation, screenplay
Anne Tyler	1941	United States	22	English	novel, short story, literary criticism
Lyudmila Ulitskaya	1943	Russia	68	Russian	novel, short story, drama
Zoé Valdés	1959	Cuba	21	Spanish	novel, poetry, screenplay
Juan Gabriel Vásquez	1973	Colombia	20	Spanish	novel, short story, essays
René Vázquez Díaz	1952	Cuba	30	Spanish	novel, poetry, drama
Tomas Venclova	1937	Lithuania	31	Lithuanian	poetry, essays, philology
Enrique Vila-Matas	1948	Spain	60	Spanish	novel, short story, essays
Ivan Vladislavic	1957	South Africa	21	English	novel, short story, essays
Jan Erik Vold	1939	Norway	60	Norwegian	poetry, essays, novel, drama
Kjell Westö	1961	Finland	24	Finnish	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Magnus William-Olsson	1960	Sweden	56	Swedish	poetry, essays, translation
Dorrit Willumsen	1940	Denmark	20	Danish	novel, short story, poetry
Jeanette Winterson	1959	United Kingdom	45	English	novel, short story, memoirs
Per Wästberg	1933	Sweden	265	Swedish	novel, poetry, biography, essays, literary criticism
Yan Lianke	1958	China	45	Chinese	novel, short story
Yang Lian	1955	China	41	Chinese	poetry, essays
Yu Hua	1960	China	38	Chinese	novel, short story, essays
Serhiy Zhadan	1974	Ukraine	23	Ukrainian	poetry, short story, essays