The 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature is an international literary prize established according to Alfred Nobel's will that will be announced by the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, Sweden, on 8 October 2026 and awarded on 10 December 2026.
Nominations 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. 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.
Possible contenders 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, such as Haruki Murakami, Karl Ove Knausgård, Margaret Atwood or Gerald Murnane. In addition, some betting houses publish odds on some of the perceived contenders winning the prize. +Authors listed as having odds equal to or better than 22/1 of winning the 2026 Nobel Literature PrizeAuthorCountryBetting OddsCan Xue10/1Haruki Murakami14/1Gerald Murnane16/1Thomas Pynchon16/1Cristina Rivera Garza20/1Enrique Vila-Matas20/1Lídia Jorge20/1Lyudmila Ulitskaya20/1Margaret Atwood20/1Michel Houellebecq20/1Karl Ove Knausgaard22/1
Nobel Committee The 2026 Nobel Committee consists of the following members:The Nobel Committee 2026 – Nobel Prize in Literature svenskaakademien.se Committee MembersSeat No.PictureNameElectedPositionProfession 4 Anders Olsson (b. 1949) 2008 committee chair literary critic, literary historian 5 Ingrid Carlberg (b. 1961) 2020 associate memberpermanent secretary author, journalist 9 Ellen Mattson (b. 1963) 2019 member novelist, essayist 14 Steve Sem-Sandberg (b. 1958) 2021 member journalist, author, translator 13 Anne Swärd (b. 1969) 2019 member novelist 16 Anna-Karin Palm (b. 1961) 2023 associate member novelist, culture writer
References
External links The Nobel Prize in Literature nobelprize.org Swedish Academy svenskaakademien.se/en