While the Swedish Academy maintains secrecy and will announce next Thursday the Nobel Prize in Literature one of the most important international recognitions, readers have already chosen the candidates to receive them this year: a list that includes authors who have been at the top of preferences for years, such as Haruki Murakami, Stephen King, Michel Houellebecq, Elena Poniatowska, Can Xue and even two South Americans, the Chilean Raul Zurita and the Argentine Cesar Aira.
After the Swedish Academy awarded the French author last year Annie Ernauxthis year the bets for the award are reissued again and the international sales rankings have little to do with the positioning that the authors achieve in the Nobel preview.
What the betting houses say about the next Nobel Prize in Literature
According to betting houses, the American bestseller Stephen King It is one of the least chosen, with a quota of 50/1; Haruki Murakami is, once again, on the list of favorites of fanatical readers, with a quota of 15/1, the same as the Argentine writer Cesar Aira. Salman Rushdiea year after the attack in which he lost the vision in one eye, is in the middle of the table, below the Chilean Raul Zurita.
Can Xuewhose real name is Deng Xiaohua, is a writer who has left a deep mark on contemporary literature with her innovative style and her exploration of the surreal. Although she is not widely known in the West, she is a relevant figure in Asian literature and today she is the top candidate according to betting sites such as Betsson and NicerOdds, with an odds of 5/1.
This maximum favoritism could be called into question if one considers that the author has 1.4 billion compatriots willing to cast their vote in the betting system.
Chinese author born in 1953 in Changsha, Can Xue is one of the favorites, known in Asia for her novel “The Red River”.
Her focus on dream worlds makes her a candidate for the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature and, if she wins, she would be the third recipient from the Asian giant. Gao Xingjian received it in 2000 and Mo Yanin 2012.
The second chosen in the bets is the Norwegian novelist and playwright Jon Fosse, who, like Murakami, is a perennial Nobel candidate. admirer of Federico García Lorca, his plays were performed all over the world and he is one of the glories of Norwegian literature. For the author of “Someone is Coming”, “Melancholy”, “Trilogy” and “Morning and Afternoon”the betting odds are 6/1.
The Romanian writer Mircea Crtrescuin sixth place in the betting with a odds of 12/1, is currently in Buenos Aires to participate in a new edition of the International Literature Festival.
Aira, for her part, has been on the shortlist for the Nobel Prize in Literature for years. With a current odds of 15/1 she is in ninth place in the table.
Can a rock icon win the Nobel Prize in Literature again?
Paul Simon He is the only musician who appears on the betting houses’ lists. He is widely considered one of the most acclaimed songwriters in the history of popular music with songs like “The Sound of Silence”, “Mrs. Robinson”, “America”, “Bridge over Troubled Water” and “The Boxer”.
Although Simon’s chances are low, there is a history of Bob Dylanwinner in 2016. The decision generated a significant controversy in the literary sector, between those who defended the singer-songwriter and those who believed that there were writers who had done more merit than him to win the award.
The Academy argued that Dylan deserved the award for having “created a new poetic expression within the great tradition of American song.”
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
