The 1973 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Australian writer Patrick White (1912–1990) "for an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent into literature." He is the first and the only Australian recipient of the prize.Patrick White britannica.comJ. M. Coetzee won the award in 2003 as a South African citizen, before he became an Australian citizen in 2006.
Laureate
The historical themes of Patrick White's novels and plays focus on his own Australia and its people. During his lifetime, he enjoyed greater acclaim abroad than he did at home, where his critical gaze was occasionally misunderstood. In 1939, he released Happy Valley, his debut novel. The Tree of Man (1955), a book about a farmer and his wife struggling to build a future in rural Australia, was his major literary success. Modern humanity's sense of loneliness and emptiness is a recurrent topic in his literary works. His other well-known works include The Vivisector (1970) and The Eye of the Storm (1973).Patrick White – Facts nobelprize.org
Deliberations Nominations In total, the Nobel Committee collected 205 nominations for 101 writers for their deliberations – the second highest number of nominations revealed so far after 1969. White was first introduced for nomination in 1968 by Muriel Clara Bradbook, professor of English at Cambridge University. Henceforth, he became an annual nominee until he was subsequently awarded with the prize.Nomination archive – Patrick White nobelprize.org In 1973, he was endorsed by academics and professors from Australia, New Zealand and Finland.
Eighteen authors were first-time nominees such as Vicente Aleixandre (awarded in 1977), Conrad Aiken, Miodrag Bulatović, Chiang Yee, Albert Cohen, Adolfo Costa du Rels, Eugen Jebeleanu, Yaşar Kemal, Zenta Mauriņa, Henry Miller, John Crowe Ransom, Isaac Bashevis Singer (awarded in 1978), Martin Wickramasinghe and Xu Xu. The highest number of nominations was for Jewish author Elie Wiesel (awarded the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize). The oldest nominee was Estonian poet Marie Under (aged 90) and the youngest was Finnish writer Hannu Salama (aged 37). Six of the nominees were women namely Simone de Beauvoir, Indira Devi Dhanrajgir, Nadine Gordimer (awarded in 1991), Doris Lessing (awarded in 2007), Zenta Mauriņa and Marie Under. The Indian novelist Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay, who died in 1971, was included posthumously by the Nobel Committee.
The authors Samuel Nathaniel Behrman, Arna Bontemps, Âşık Veysel, Kemal Tahir, Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel, Noël Coward, John Creasey, Roland Dorgelès, Neil Miller Gunn, Egon Hostovský, Benn Levy, Warren Lewis, Lucy Beatrice Malleson (known as Anthony Gilbert), Nancy Mitford, Elma Napier, Robert C. O'Brien, Jirō Osaragi, Vera Panova, William Plomer, Brigitte Reimann, Sergio Tofano, Margaret Wilson and Nobuko Yoshiya died in 1973 without having been nominated for the prize while the American author Conrad Aiken died before the only chance to be awarded.
Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s) 1 Conrad Aiken (1889–1973) poetry, novel, short story, literary criticism, autobiography Samuel Frederick Johnson (1918–2005) 2 Vicente Aleixandre (1898–1984) poetry, essays Dámaso Alonso (1898–1990) 3 Jorge Amado (1912–2001) novel, short story Antônio Olinto (1919–2009) 4 Antonio Aniante (1900–1973) drama, novel, essays Vittorio Vettori (1920–2004) 5 Wystan Hugh Auden (1907–1973) poetry, essays, screenplay 6 Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985) novel, drama, essays 7 Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay (1898–1971)(posthumous nomination) novel, short story, drama, essays, autobiography, songwriting Nobel Committee 8 Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) novel, drama, memoir, philosophy, essays, short story Walter Ralph Johnson (1933–2024) 9 Saul Bellow (1915–2005) novel, short story, memoir, essays Roger Asselineau (1915–2002) 10 Louis Paul Boon (1912–1979) novel, essays, short story, poetry 11 Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) poetry, essays, translation, short story 12 Miodrag Bulatović (1930–1991) novel, short story, drama, essays Allan Philip (1927–2004) 13 Anthony Burgess (1917–1993) novel, poetry, drama, screenplay, autobiography, biography, essays, literary criticism, translation Artur Lundkvist (1906–1991) 14 Michel Butor (1926–2016) poetry, novel, essays, translation Leon Samuel Roudiez (1917–2004) 15 Elias Canetti (1905–1994) novel, drama, memoir, essays 16 Camilo José Cela (1916–2002) novel, short story, essay, poetry, drama, memoir 17 André Chamson (1900–1983) novel, essays 18 René Char (1907–1988) poetry 19 Suniti Kumar Chatterji (1890–1977) essays, pedagogy, literary criticism Nobel Committee 20 Chiang Yee (1903–1977) memoir, poetry, essays Lo Hsiang-lin (1906–1978) 21 Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) poetry, drama, short story, essays, songwriting 22 Albert Cohen (1895–1981) novel, drama, essays Joseph Kessel (1898–1979) 23 Adolfo Costa du Rels (1891–1980) novel, short story, drama, poetry, essays Humberto Palza (1900–1975) 24 Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca (1914–2008) poetry Yaşar Nabi Nayır (1908–1981) 25 Indira Devi Dhanrajgir (1930–2026) poetry, essays Krishna Srinivas (1913–2007) 26 Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990) drama, novel, short story, essays Werner Betz (1912–1980) 27 Odysseas Elytis (1911–1996) poetry, essays, translation Nobel Committee 28 Rabbe Enckell (1903–1974) short story, poetry Eeva Kilpi (1928–) 29 Salvador Espriu (1913–1985) drama, novel, poetry Antoni Comas i Pujol (1931–1981) 30 James Thomas Farrell (1904–1979) novel, short story, poetry Duane Schneider (1937–2012) 31 José Maria Ferreira de Castro (1898–1978) novel Antônio Olinto (1919–2009) 32 Max Frisch (1911–1991) novel, drama Wolfram Naumann (1921–2021) 33 Romain Gary (1914–1980) novel, essays, literary criticism, screenplay Walther Hinz (1906–1992) 34 William Golding (1911–1993) novel, poetry, drama, essays Erik Frykman (1919–2010) 35 Nadine Gordimer (1923–2014) novel, short story, essay, drama Artur Lundkvist (1906–1991) 36 Julien Gracq (1910–2007) novel, drama, poetry, essays Georges Matoré (1908–1998) 37 Günter Grass (1927–2015) novel, drama, poetry, essays Manfred Windfuhr (1930–) 38 Robert Graves (1895–1985) history, novel, poetry, literary criticism, essays Ellsworth Mason (1917–2013) 39 Julien Green (1900–1998) novel, autobiography, essays 40 Graham Greene (1904–1991) novel, short story, autobiography, essays 41 Jorge Guillén (1893–1984) poetry, literary criticism Kázmér Géza Werner (1900–1985) 42 Paavo Haavikko (1931–2008) poetry, drama, essays Eeva Kilpi (1928–) 43 William Heinesen (1900–1991) poetry, short story, novel 44 Vladimír Holan (1905–1980) poetry, essays Nobel Committee 45 Taha Hussein (1889–1973) novel, short story, poetry, translation Ibrāhīm Madkūr (1902–1995) 46 Gyula Illyés (1902–1983) poetry, novel, drama, essays 47 Eugen Jebeleanu (1911–1991) poetry, essays, translation 48 Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) novel, short story 49 Ferenc Juhász (1928–2015) poetry Artur Lundkvist (1906–1991) 50 Yaşar Kemal (1923–2015) novel, essays 51 Erich Kästner (1899–1974) poetry, screenplay, autobiography Hermann Kesten (1900–1996) 52 Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981) poetry, drama, short story, novel, essaysNobel Committee 53 Manbohdan Lal (–) 54 Frank Raymond Leavis (1895–1978) literary criticism, essays Mary Renault (1905–1983) 55 Doris Lessing (1919–2013) novel, short story, memoirs, drama, poetry, essays Artur Lundkvist (1906–1991) 56 Lin Yutang (1895–1976) novel, philosophy, essays, translation José María Acosta Acosta (–) 57 Väinö Linna (1920–1992) novel Eeva Kilpi (1928–) 58 Robert Lowell (1917–1977) poetry, translation Hans Galinsky (1909–1991) 59 Salvador de Madariaga (1886–1978) essays, history, law, novel Julián Gorkin (1901–1987) 60 Norman Mailer (1923–2007) novel, short story, poetry, essays, biography, drama, screenplay 61 Bernard Malamud (1914–1986) novel, short story Nobel Committee 62 André Malraux (1901–1976) novel, essays, literary criticism 63 Frederick Manfred (1912–1994) novel, essays 64 Gustave Lucien Martin-Saint-René (1888–1973) poetry, novel, essays, literary criticism, drama, songwriting, short story Henri Guiter (1909–1994) 65 Harry Martinson (1904–1978) poetry, novel, drama, essays 66 Zenta Mauriņa (1897–1978) short story, autobiography, essays, translation, philology Mārtiņš Zīverts (1903–1990) 67 László Mécs (1895–1978) poetry, essays 68 Veijo Meri (1928–2015) novel, short story, poetry, essays Nobel Committee 69 Henri Michaux (1899–1984) poetry, essays Lars Forssell (1928–2007) 70 Arthur Miller (1915–2005) drama, screenplay, essays Andri Peer (1921–1985) 71 Henry Miller (1891–1980) novel, short story, memoir, essays Allan Philip (1927–2004) 72 Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973) novel, drama, history Gunnar Tilander (1894–1973) 73 Eugenio Montale (1896–1981) poetry, translation 74 Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) novel, literary criticism, essays, drama Jacques Robichez (1914–1999) 75 Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) novel, short story, poetry, drama, translation, literary criticism, memoir 76 V. S. Naipaul (1932–2018) novel, short story, essays Artur Lundkvist (1906–1991) 77 José María Pemán (1897–1981) poetry, drama, novel, essays, screenplay Manuel Halcón (1900–1989) 78 Zayn al-ʻĀbidīn Rahnamā (1894–1990) history, essays, translation Manouchehr Eghbal (1909–1977) 79 John Crowe Ransom (1888–1974) poetry, essays, literary criticism Samuel Frederick Johnson (1918–2005) 80 Evaristo Ribera Chevremont (1890–1976) poetry Ernesto Juan Fonfrías (1909–1990) 81 Yannis Ritsos (1909–1990) poetry, songwriting Nobel Committee 82 Tadeusz Rózewicz (1921–2014) poetry, drama, translation Józef Trypućko (1910–1983) 83 Hans Ruin (1891–1980) philosophy Arthur Arnholtz (1901–1973) 84 Hannu Salama (born 1936) novel, short story, poetry Magnus von Platen (1920–2020) 85 Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906–2001) poetry, essays Roger Asselineau (1915–2002) 86 Claude Simon (1913–2005) novel, essays 87 Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902–1991) novel, short story, autobiography, essays Moshe Starkman (1906–1975) 88 Zaharia Stancu (1902–1974) poetry, novel, philosophy, essays 89 Pratap Narayan Tandon (1935–) novel, essays Brij Behari Nayak (–) 90 Marie Under (1883–1980) poetry 91 José García Villa (1908–1997) poetry, essays Purita Kalaw Ledesma (1914–2005) 92 Paul Voivenel (1880–1975) memoir, essays Roland Dorgelès (1885–1973) 93 Gerard Walschap (1898–1989) novel, drama, essays 94 Sándor Weöres (1913–1989) poetry, translation Áron Kibédi Varga (1930–2018) 95 Patrick White (1912–1990) novel, short story, drama, poetry, autobiography 96 Martin Wickramasinghe (1890–1976) novel, short story, drama, literary criticism, essays, philosophy, autobiography, biography, history Ediriweera Sarachchandra (1914–1996) 97 Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) memoir, essays, novel, drama 98 Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) drama, novel, short story Wolfgang Clemen (1909–1990) 99 Xu Xu (1908–1980) novel, poetry, drama, essays, literary criticism Lee Chiu-seng (–) 100 Amado Yuzon (1906–1979) poetry, essays Emeterio Barcelon Barcelo-Soriano (1897-1978) 101 Carl Zuckmayer (1896–1977) drama, screenplay Erich Ruprecht (1965–1972)
Prize Decision