The Swedish Academy on Friday decided to put a hold on the 2018 Noble Prize for literature due to sexual assault allegations at the organisation which decides the winner.
The Academy announced that the prize will not be handed out this year, on the grounds that the academy is in no shape to pick a winner after a string of sex abuse allegations and financial crimes scandals.
At a weekly meeting in Stockholm, the academy revealed that it has decided that two winners will be announced in 2019, with one recipient recognized for this year’s eligibility period.
Anders Olsson, the academy’s permanent secretary announced that if we find it necessary to commit time to recovering public confidence in the Academy before the next laureate can be announced.
In November 2017, a Swedish daily reported multiple allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault against Jean-Claude Arnault, the husband of poet and academy member Katarina Frostenson.
The Academy then voted against removing Katarina Frostenson from its 18-person committee.
The last time the Academy cancelled the Nobel Prize in Literature was during the World War II.
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