Who will be the next American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature?

Would love if Lydia won it, just for her efforts to learn Norwegian.

― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, October 6, 2015 9:47 AM (11 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Me too but what about Dag Solstadt, the guy who wrote the novel she read to learn Norwegian, is he in the running?

I don't think so...have read one of his books earlier this year and certainly would like to see more in translation.

Excellent piece on what those odds are, there is no long list or anything to go with apart from what ppl bet on: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/123058/who-will-win-nobel-prize-literature

So Dag Solstad could win. I am always selfish here -- want to see someone who hasn't been that translated into Eng -- so its Dag or Sergio Pitol (who is actually being translated now).

Lydia Davis is an all-round great personality, writer and translator. Perfect fit for the prize. Then again all notions of what they go for are up in the air. The article recognizes but can't help to play the game, casting writers as this or that, uncomfortably so: Vargas Llosa and Munro are quite popular (these things are so relative when it comes to literature) (and post-Marquez few thought Llosa would get the nod, so not too late for Kundera). Pynchon as weird, its more that he is v comfortable with talking and engaging with pop (conversely enough that's a reason that could discount Murakami too)

Dag would be a perfect reason not to give it to Knausgaard. That's one thing I have noticed, they will often recognise some kind of literature years after, and they'll never give it to the writer who was there 'first' or anything (Beckett for Irish modernism, Kawabata for a certain kind of Japanses lit and not Mishima, Gide instead of Proust, Jelinek instead of Bernhard). Possibly Marquez was the only time where it seemed to be at right person, right moment.

Other US writer would be Harry Mathews. Don't think an Oulipo member has won this so it would reward that tradition. Seems like a gap on Nobel's CV.

Now that last would be an interesting choice.

Every time I see this thread title I think of that one Kinks song.

Svetlana Alexievich (bookies fave) wins!

Philip Roth grumbles!

eh roth is sitting around watching alf reruns w/ mia farrow

Svetlana Alexievich, you're a winner

her books sound interesting. especially the oral history ones. dalkey archive put one of them out. i do like that they pick a lot of people i've never heard of or people i know little about. they are always keeping their eye out for the next halldor laxness.

that petered out. can anyone here tell us more about svetlana? what to read in english? i know there's a couple of soviet lit devotees around.

Has to be "Voices from Chernobyl": http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/index.php?id=15872&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ThreePercent-Article+%28Three+Percent%29

'has to be' as in 'only book currently in print in english'?

More or less. Complete Review has the state of play:
http://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/201510a.htm#sz3

This Work?

Ok the above is from Voice of Chernobyl. There is something else called Zinky Boys as well.

Should get a wider re-issue now

yeah reading about her work really made want to read it so very happy she won the nobel as it will hopefully mean some english translations coming into print

it could be the worst disappointment since that unreadable frenchman from a few years back though

le clezio? he was definitely a dud.

him, yes. yes.

Anyone for Vasil Bykaŭ? http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/article1618606.ece

Excellent piece at the nyrb: http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2015/oct/12/svetlana-alexievich-truth-many-voices/

Her speech is p/good.

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2015/alexievich-lecture_en.html

Here we go again, mostly the same front-runners as ever.

http://www.nicerodds.co.uk/nobel-prize-in-literature

Bonnefoy passed away a couple of months ago.

Feel like I read something recently about some country or someone thinking their nominee was the favorite because they saw a list of candidates and didn't realize it was in alphabetical order.

E.L. James, lol

Would die if it were Le Guin, but no chance really.

Lol Murakami every single year. Do they ever learn?

They're like the Bob Dylan people. Every year I get really angry when people start going on about how Murakami should win.

Which Bob Dylan people?

all of them.

:) No, every year people put money on Bob Dylan to win the Literature Nobel, because they are morons

Somehow I doubt they are wagering more money on Mr. Zimmerman's chances than they can afford to lose. Which would make their wagers a bit less moronic and more a matter of enthusiastic advocacy, however misguided.

But it's advocacy which makes no difference since I doubt that the Nobel committee takes their instructions from unibet. And he won't ever win since he's a rubbish "writer". Hence: morons.

Sorry. Just that the cultural adulation of both Bob Dylan and Murakami makes me very cross.

Dylan deserves the Nobel Prize just for his painting

Well, fuck me, i'm going to go live in a box

You have got to be fucking kidding me.

Young Thug was robbed.

Lol.

Go live and your tiny second bookshop, and we'll come visit when we can.

But stay out of your tiny record shop.

America's greatest living poet, Bill "Smokey" Robinson, was robbed.

(Fingers in ears) I CANT HEAR YOU! I CANT HEAR YOU!

Time to start the Tarantula ILB book club.

Excellent

What will the next 3 signs of the apocalypse be?

Stephen King for 2017

I hope somebody returns their award in protest

he wrote some pretty class songs imo