2025 Nobel Prize in Literature

2025 Nobel Prize in Literature
"in the field of literature, produced the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction".
Date	9 October 2025 (announcement) 10 December 2025 (ceremony)
Location	Stockholm, Sweden
Presented by	Swedish Academy
First award	1901
Currently held by	to be announced
Website	2025 Nobel Prize in Literature
←  2024  · Nobel Prize in Literature ·  2026  →

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature is an international literary prize established according to Alfred Nobel's will ^[1] that will be announced by the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, Sweden, on 9 October 2025 and awarded on 10 December 2025. ^[2]

Nominations

Every year, beginning in November of last year, thousands of letters across the world are sent to the Swedish Academy, endorsing well celebrated and little-known authors for the Nobel Prize.

Such 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. ^[3] 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. ^{[4] [5]}

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.

Among last year's favorite authors to win the prize, according to The Guardian and Literary Hub , include Can Xue, Haruki Murakami, Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Ersi Sotiropoulou, Salman Rushdie, Don DeLillo, Thomas Pynchon, László Krasznahorkai, César Aira, Gerald Murnane, and Anne Carson. ^{[6] [7]}

The following list features authors considered worthy of the prize by some sources along with the current number of their books the Nobel Library possess. ^{[8] [9] [10] [11]} The amount of copies helps determine the Swedish Academy's interest on a particular author. ^[12]

Author	Birth Year	Country	Number of Books	Language	Genre(s)
Peter Ackroyd	1949	United Kingdom	22	English	novel, biography, essays, poetry
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie	1977	Nigeria	26	English	novel, short story, essays
Naja Marie Aidt	1963	Denmark	33	Danish	poetry, short story, novel, drama
César Aira	1949	Argentina	36	Spanish	novel, short story, essays, translation
Ibrahim al-Koni	1948	Libya	31	Arab	novel, essays, history
Isabel Allende	1942	Chile	35	Spanish	novel, short story, memoirs
José Eduardo Agualusa	1960	Angola	21	Portuguese	novel, short story, essays
Homero Aridjis	1940	Mexico	70	Spanish	poetry, novel, drama, short story, essays
Fernando Arrabal	1932	Spain	39	Spanish/French	drama, novel, essays, poetry
Margaret Atwood	1939	Canada	129	English	novel, short story, poetry, essays, literary criticism
Bernardo Atxaga	1951	Spain	23	Basque	novel, short story, poetry
John Banville	1945	Ireland	23	English	novel, short story, drama, screenplay, essays
Alessandro Baricco	1958	Italy	25	Italian	novel, drama, short story, essays
Julian Barnes	1946	United Kingdom	33	English	novel, short story, essays
Bei Dao	1949	China	45	Chinese	poetry, short story, essays, memoirs
Tahar Ben Jelloun	1944	Morocco	66	French	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Aase Berg	1967	Sweden	24	Swedish	poet, literary critic
Wolf Biermann	1936	Germany	23	German	poetry, songwriting
Ana Blandiana	1942	Romania	25	Romanian	novel, poetry, essays, drama, translation
Alfredo Bryce Echenique	1939	Peru	29	Spanish	novel, short story
Can Xue	1953	China	24	Chinese	novel, short story, literary criticism
Emmanuel Carrère	1957	France	20	French	novel, essays, biography, screenplay
Anne Carson	1950	Canada	49	English	poetry, essays
Mircea Cărtărescu	1958	Romania	41	Romanian	novel, poetry, short story, literary criticism, essays
Javier Cercas	1962	Spain	37	Spanish	novel, essays, translation
Patrick Chamoiseau	1953	Martinique	30	French	novel, essays, autobiography, screenplay
Hélène Cixous	1937	France	91	French	essays, literary criticism, philosophy, drama, poetry
Mia Couto	1955	Mozambique	61	Portuguese	novel, short story, essays
Rachel Cusk	1967	United Kingdom	24	English	novel, essays, drama
Lydia Davis	1947	United States	23	English	short story, novel, essays
Don DeLillo	1936	United States	59	English	novel, short story, drama, screenplay, essays
René Depestre	1926	Haiti	25	French	poetry, novel, essays
Anita Desai	1937	India	25	English	novel, short story
Ananda Devi	1957	Mauritius	26	French	novel, short story, poetry
Jean Echenoz	1947	France	25	French	novel, short story, essays
Inger Edelfeldt	1956	Sweden	33	Swedish	novel, short story, translation
Kerstin Ekman	1933	Sweden	71	Swedish	novel, essays, screenplay
Anna Enquist	1945	Netherlands	23	Dutch	novel, poetry
Viktor Yerofeyev	1947	Russia	23	Russian	novel, essays
Louise Erdrich	1954	United States	24	English	novel, poetry
Jenny Erpenbeck	1967	Germany	22	German	novel, short story, drama, essays
Knut Faldbakken	1941	Norway	21	Norwegian	novel, short story, essays
Nuruddin Farah	1945	Somalia	25	English	novel, short story, drama
Jean-Pierre Faye	1925	France	22	French	philosophy, essays, novel, poetry
Dominique Fernandez	1929	France	21	French	novel, essays
Elena Ferrante	1943	Italy	25	Italian	novel, essays
Aris Fioretos	1960	Sweden	47	Swedish	novel, essays, translation
Magnus Florin	1955	Sweden	32	Swedish	novel, drama, essays
Kjartan Fløgstad	1944	Norway	48	Norwegian	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Richard Ford	1944	United States	22	English	novel, short story, screenplay
Tua Forsström	1947	Sweden	37	Swedish	poetry, drama, essays
Niels Frank	1963	Denmark	22	Danish	poetry, essays
Katarina Frostenson	1953	Sweden	99	Swedish	poetry, biography, essays, drama, translation
Robin Fulton	1937	United Kingdom	32	English	poetry, essays, translation
Eric Fylkeson	1950	Sweden	24	Swedish	poetry, essays
Jonas Gardell	1963	Sweden	24	Swedish	novel, drama, screenplay
Jörgen Gassilewski	1961	Sweden	22	Swedish	poetry, essays
Sylvie Germain	1954	France	23	French	novel, short story, essays
Amitav Ghosh	1956	India	27	English	novel, essays
Pere Gimferrer	1945	Spain	55	Spanish/Catalan	poetry, novel, essays, translation, literary criticism
Luis Goytisolo	1935	Spain	26	Spanish	novel, short story, essays
David Grossman	1954	Israel	35	Hebrew	novel, essays
Vigdís Grímsdóttir	1953	Iceland	21	Icelandic	poetry, short story, drama
Durs Grünbein	1962	Germany	73	German	poetry, essays, novel
Einar Már Guðmundsson	1954	Iceland	47	Icelandic	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Lennart Hagerfors	1946	Sweden	24	Swedish	novel, essays
Gunnar Harding	1940	Sweden	81	Swedish	poetry, novel, essays, translation
Dick Harrison	1966	Sweden	34	Swedish	history, essays, novel
Paal-Helge Haugen	1945	Norway	27	Norwegian	novel, poetry, drama
Christoph Hein	1944	Germany	28	German	novel, drama, essays
Christina Hesselholdt	1962	Denmark	23	Danish	novel, short story, essays
Michel Houellebecq	1957	France	49	French	novel, poetry, essays
Siri Hustvedt	1955	United States	26	English	novel, essays, translation
Roy Jacobsen	1954	Norway	37	Norwegian	novel, short story, autobiography
Drago Jančar	1948	Slovenia	25	Slovenian	novel, short story, drama, essays
Ann Jäderlund	1955	Sweden	32	Swedish	poetry, drama
Carsten Jensen	1952	Denmark	21	Danish	novel, essays, literary criticism
Per Christian Jersild	1935	Sweden	42	Swedish	novel, essays
Lídia Jorge	1946	Portugal	33	Portuguese	novel, short story, essays, poetry
Theodor Kallifatides	1938	Sweden	43	Swedish	novel, poetry, essays, translation
Einar Kárason	1955	Iceland	20	Icelandic	novel, poetry, essays
Daniel Kehlmann	1975	Germany	22	German	novel, drama
Vénus Khoury-Ghata	1937	France	53	French	novel, poetry, short story
Eeva Kilpi	1928	Finland	24	Finnish	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Jamaica Kincaid	1949	United States	26	English	novel, essays, short story
Esther Kinsky	1956	Germany	20	German	novel, poetry, translation
Erling Kittelsen	1946	Norway	20	Norwegian	poetry, novel, short story, drama, translation
Jan Kjærstad	1953	Norway	31	Norwegian	novel, short story, essays
Bengt af Klintberg	1938	Sweden	34	Swedish	short story, essays
Alexander Kluge	1932	Germany	28	German	essays, philosophy, drama
Karl Ove Knausgård	1968	Norway	52	Norwegian	novel, autobiography, essays
Ko Un	1933	South Korea	37	Korean	poetry, essays
Pavel Kohout	1928	Czechia	24	Czech	novel, drama, poetry, autobiography
Christian Kracht	1966	Switzerland	22	German	novel, essays, screenplay
Hanna Krall	1935	Poland	70	Polish	novel, essays
László Krasznahorkai	1954	Hungary	40	Hungarian	novel, short story, translation
Julia Kristeva	1941	France	38	French	novel, essays, philosophy
Ryszard Krynicki	1943	Poland	20	Polish	poetry, translation
Stig Larsson	1955	Sweden	39	Swedish	novel, short story, drama, poetry, essays, screenplay
Peter Laugesen	1942	Denmark	38	Danish	poetry, drama
Kristoffer Leandoer	1962	Sweden	49	Swedish	poetry, short story, novel, essays
Mara Lee	1972	Sweden	23	Swedish	poetry, novel, translation
Sven-Eric Liedman	1939	Sweden	26	Swedish	essays, philosophy, history
Rosa Liksom	1958	Finland	24	Finnish	novel, short story
Birgitta Lillpers	1958	Sweden	21	Swedish	novel, poetry
Ewa Lipska	1945	Poland	43	Polish	poetry, essays
Lotta Lotass	1964	Sweden	44	Swedish	novel, short story, drama, essays
António Lobo Antunes	1942	Portugal	98	Portuguese	novel, short story, essays
Ulf Lundell	1949	Sweden	25	Swedish	songwriting, novel, poetry
Marie Lundquist	1950	Sweden	39	Swedish	poetry, essays, translation
Alain Mabanckou	1966	Republic of Congo	31	French	novel, poetry, essays
Svend Åge Madsen	1939	Denmark	32	Danish	novel, short story, drama
Claudio Magris	1939	Italy	107	Italian	essays, translation, novel, short story
Andreï Makine	1957	France	27	French	novel
David Malouf	1934	Australia	25	English	novel, short story, poetry, essays, drama
Norman Manea	1936	Romania	23	Romanian	novel, essays
Dacia Maraini	1936	Italy	27	Italian	novel, short story, essays, drama
Merete Mazzarella	1945	Finland	38	Finnish	essays, novel, autobiography, literary criticism
Ian McEwan	1948	United Kingdom	38	English	novel, short story, screenplay, drama
Eduardo Mendoza Garriga	1943	Spain	27	Spanish	novel, short story, drama, essays
Juan José Millás	1946	Spain	20	Spanish	novel, short story
Rosa Montero	1951	Spain	20	Spanish	novel, short story
Quim Monzó	1952	Spain	24	Catalan	novel, short story, essays
Terézia Mora	1971	Hungary	20	Hungarian	novel, poetry, screenplays
Paul Muldoon	1951	Ireland	40	English	poetry, essays, literary criticism
Antonio Muñoz Molina	1956	Spain	48	Spanish	novel, short story, essays
Haruki Murakami	1949	Japan	47	Japanese	novel, short story, essays
Gerald Murnane	1939	Australia	26	English	novel, short story, essays, poetry, memoirs
Adolf Muschg	1934	Switzerland	26	German	novel, poetry, essays
Péter Nádas	1942	Hungary	69	Hungarian	novel, drama, essays
Marie NDiaye	1967	France	28	French	novel, short story, essays, drama, screenplay
Carlos Nejar	1939	Brazil	24	Portuguese	poetry, novel, essays, translation
Ulf Karl Olov Nilsson	1965	Sweden	23	Swedish	poetry, essays
Cees Nooteboom	1933	Netherlands	76	Dutch	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Svante Nordin	1946	Sweden	36	Swedish	essays, philosophy
Amélie Nothomb	1966	Belgium	35	French	novel, short story
Fredrik Nyberg	1968	Sweden	20	Swedish	poetry, essays
Joyce Carol Oates	1938	United States	179	English	novel, drama, poetry, short story, essays, literary criticism
Yōko Ogawa	1962	Japan	31	Japanese	novel, short story
Ben Okri	1959	Nigeria	30	English	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Tommy Olofsson	1960	Sweden	25	Swedish	poetry, essays
Michael Ondaatje	1943	Canada	30	English	novel, poetry, essays
Cynthia Ozick	1928	United States	26	English	novel, short story, essays
Vasilis Papageorgiou	1955	Sweden	22	Swedish	novel, drama, poetry, essays
Victor Pelevin	1962	Russia	46	Russian	novel, short story, essays
Malte Persson	1976	Sweden	26	Swedish	poetry, essays, translation
Lyudmila Petrushevskaya	1938	Russia	46	Russian	novel, short story, drama, poetry, essays
Agneta Pleijel	1940	Sweden	57	Swedish	novel, poetry, drama, essays, literary criticism
Álvaro Pombo	1939	Spain	23	Spanish	novel, short story, poetry
Thomas Pynchon	1937	United States	20	English	novel, short story, essays
Yann Queffélec	1949	France	20	French	novel, essays
Pascal Quignard	1948	France	50	French	novel, short story, essays
Sergio Ramírez	1942	Nicaragua	20	Spanish	short story, novel, essays
Björn Ranelid	1949	Sweden	35	Swedish	novel, short story, biography, essays
Renzo Ricchi	1936	Italy	22	Italian	drama, poetry, short story, essays
Carme Riera	1948	Spain	30	Catalan/Spanish	novel, short story, essays, screenplay
Manuel Rivas	1957	Spain	24	Galician/Spanish	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Marilynne Robinson	1943	United States	21	English	novel, essays
Dina Rubina	1953	Israel	20	Hebrew	novel, short story, essays
Luiz Ruffato	1961	Brazil	20	Portuguese	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Salman Rushdie	1947	United Kingdom	60	English	novel, short story, essays, autobiography
Ali Ahmad Said	1930	Syria	77	Arab	poetry, essays, translation
Olga Sedakova	1949	Russia	33	Russian	poetry, essays, translation
Steve Sem-Sandberg	1958	Sweden	41	Swedish	novel, essays
Sigurjón "Sjón" Sigurðsson	1962	Iceland	38	Icelandic	novel, poetry, drama, screenplay
Ali Smith	1962	United Kingdom	26	English	novel, short story, drama, essays
Zadie Smith	1975	United Kingdom	22	English	novel, short story, essays, drama
Vladimir Sorokin	1955	Russia	41	Russian	novel, short story, drama, screenplay, essays
Peter Stamm	1963	Switzerland	25	German	drama, novel, essays
Andrzej Stasiuk	1960	Poland	46	Polish	novel, short story, essays
Jón Kalman Stefánsson	1963	Iceland	20	Icelandic	novel, poetry
Botho Strauss	1944	Germany	64	German	drama, novel, essays
Su Tong	1963	China	22	Chinese	novel, short story, essays
Graham Swift	1949	United Kingdom	23	English	novel, short story
Pia Tafdrup	1952	Denmark	55	Danish	poetry, essays
Donna Tartt	1963	United States	38	English	novel, short story, non-fiction
Yoko Tawada	1960	Japan	41	Japanese/German	novel, short story, poetry
Paul Theroux	1941	United States	26	English	novel, short story, essays
Søren Ulrik Thomsen	1956	Denmark	20	Danish	poetry, essays
Kirsten Thorup	1942	Denmark	24	Danish	novel, short story
Pär Thörn	1977	Sweden	21	Swedish	poetry, essays
Thomas Tidholm	1943	Sweden	20	Swedish	poetry, drama, short story, translation
Enrico Tiozzo	1945	Italy	50	Italian	essays, literary criticism
Jean-Philippe Toussaint	1957	Belgium	22	French	novel, screenplay
Colm Tóibín	1955	Ireland	47	English	novel, short story, essays
Viktoriya Tokareva	1937	Russia	25	Russian	novel, short story, screenplay
Tatyana Tolstaya	1951	Russia	31	Russian	novel, short story, essays
Michel Tremblay	1942	Canada	29	French	novel, short story, drama, screenplay
Antti Tuuri	1944	Finland	21	Finnish	novel, translation, screenplay
Anne Tyler	1941	United States	27	English	novel, short story, literary criticism
Lyudmila Ulitskaya	1943	Russia	67	Russian	novel, short story, drama
Zoé Valdés	1959	Cuba	21	Spanish	novel, poetry, screenplay
Juan Gabriel Vásquez	1973	Colombia	20	Spanish	novel, short story, essays
René Vázquez Díaz	1952	Cuba	29	Spanish	novel, poetry, drama
Tomas Venclova	1937	Lithuania	31	Lithuanian	poetry, essays, philology
Enrique Vila-Matas	1948	Spain	60	Spanish	novel, short story, essays
Ivan Vladislavic	1957	South Africa	26	English	novel, short story, essays
Jan Erik Vold	1939	Norway	60	Norwegian	poetry, essays, novel, drama
Alice Walker	1944	United States	30	English	poetry, non-fiction, novel
Kjell Westö	1961	Finland	24	Finnish	novel, short story, poetry, essays
Magnus William-Olsson	1960	Sweden	54	Swedish	poetry, essays, translation
Dorrit Willumsen	1940	Denmark	20	Danish	novel, short story, poetry
Jeanette Winterson	1959	United Kingdom	45	English	novel, short story, memoirs
Per Wästberg	1933	Sweden	257	Swedish	novel, poetry, biography, essays, literary criticism
Yan Lianke	1958	China	41	Chinese	novel, short story
Yang Lian	1955	China	41	Chinese	poetry, essays
Yu Hua	1960	China	38	Chinese	novel, short story, essays
Serhiy Zhadan	1974	Ukraine	22	Ukrainian	poetry, short story, essays

Nobel Committee

The 2025 Nobel Committee consists of the following members: ^[13]

Committee Members
Seat No.	Picture	Name	Elected	Position	Profession
4		Anders Olsson (b. 1949)	2008	committee chair	literary critic, literary historian
11		Mats Malm (b. 1964)	2018	associate member permanent secretary	translator, literary historian, editor
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

1. "Alfred Nobel will". Nobel Foundation. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
2. "Prize announcement dates". nobelprize.org.
3. "How are the Nobel Prize Laureates in Literature decided?". svenskaakademien.se. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
4. "Rules for Nominations". svenskaakademien.se. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
5. "Behind the scenes of the Nobel Prize in Literature". nobelprize.org. 21 September 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
6. Ella Creamer (8 October 2024). "Chinese author Can Xue is favourite to win 2024 Nobel prize in literature". The Guardian.
7. Emily Temple (8 October 2024). "Here are the bookies' odds for the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature". Literary Hub.
8. "Crowd-pleaser or obscure pick for literature Nobel?". France 24 . 6 October 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
9. Alex Marshall (6 October 2021). "Who Will Win the Nobel Prize in Literature?". New York Times . Retrieved 28 December 2024.
10. "10 People Who Deserve a Nobel Prize". The Best Schools. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
11. Shrimansi Kaushik (3 October 2022). "Authors Who Should Win Nobel Prize For Literature". india.com. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
12. The list as of Septembre 2025 shows only those with 15 and above. "Svenska Akademiens Nobelbibliotek". lib.nobelbibliotek.se.
13. The Nobel Committee 2025 – Nobel Prize in Literature svenskaakademien.se

External links

• The Nobel Prize in Literature nobelprize.org
• Swedish Academy svenskaakademien.se/en