1969 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Irish author Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) "for his writing, which - in new forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation".The Nobel Prize in Literature 1969 nobelprize.org

Laureate

Samuel Beckett produced his most important works – four novels, two dramas, a collection of short stories, essays, and art criticism – during an intensely creative period in the late 1940s. He had settled in France and wrote in both French and English. His experiences during World War II – insecurity, confusion, exile, hunger, deprivation – came to shape his writing. In his most famous work, the drama En attendant Godot (Waiting for Godot, 1952), he examines the most basic foundations of our lives with strikingly dark humor.Samuel Beckett nobelprize.org Among his other famous literary works include Krapp's Last Tape (1958), Happy Days (1961) and The Molloy Trilogy (1955–58).

Deliberations Nominations In total, the Swedish Academy received 184 nominations for 103 writers. Samuel Beckett was nominated in 26 occasions since 1957, and received 5 nominations for the 1969 prize with which he was awarded afterwards.Nominations – Samuel Beckett nobelprize.org

Nominees included were André Malraux, Simone de Beauvoir, Jorge Luis Borges, Pablo Neruda (awarded in 1971), Heinrich Böll (awarded in 1972), Eugenio Montale (awarded in 1975), Günter Grass (awarded in 1999), Jorge Amado, Louis Aragon, Witold Gombrowicz, Vladimir Nabokov, Alberto Moravia, Robert Graves, W. H. Auden and Graham Greene. 30 of the nominees were nominated first-time, among them Aimé Césaire, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (awarded in 1970), Arthur Miller, Jacques Maritain, Tawfiq al-Hakim, Edward Albee, Yasushi Inoue and Elias Canetti (awarded in 1981). The nominees who were with the highest number of nominations received – 8 nominations each – were André Malraux, Giuseppe Ungaretti and Tarjei Vesaas. The oldest nominee was Belgian writer Stijn Streuvels (aged 98) and the youngest were Ivan Drach and Hannu Salama (both aged 33 at the time). Five of the nominees were women: Anna Seghers, Nathalie Sarraute, Simone de Beauvoir, Marie Under and Elisaveta Bagryana. The 1951 Nobel laureate Swedish author Pär Lagerkvist nominated his countrymen and colleagues in the Swedish Academy, authors Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson who would share the prize in 1974.Nomination archive nobelprize.org

The authors Alejandro G. Abadilla, Giovanni Comisso, Ivy Compton-Burnett, Richmal Crompton, Floyd Dell, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Emilio Frugoni, Jack Kerouac, Eugenia Kielland, Norman Lindsay, Erika Mann, Elizaveta Polonskaya, Phraya Anuman Rajadhon, Zoila Ugarte de Landivar, and John Wyndham died in 1969 without having been nominated the prize. The Polish playwright Witold Gombrowicz and Belgian writer Stijn Streuvels died months before the announcement.

Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)1Tawfiq al-Hakim (1898–1987)novel, drama, essays, short story, biographyShawqi Daif (1910–2005)2Edward Albee (1928–2016)dramaHanspeter Schelp (–)3Jorge Amado (1912–2001)novel, short story4Jerzy Andrzejewski (1909–1983)novel, short storyKristine Heltberg (1924–2003)5Louis Aragon (1897–1982)novel, short story, poetry, essays6Wystan Hugh Auden (1907–1973)poetry, essays, screenplay7Elisaveta Bagryana (1893–1991)poetry, translationAnna Kamenova (1894–1982)8Agustí Bartra (1908–1982)poetry, songwriting, translationManuel Durán (1925–2020)9Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)novel, drama, poetry10Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)poetry, essays, translation, short story11Emil Boyson (1897–1979)poetry, novel, translationAsbjørn Aarnes (1923–2013)12Heinrich Böll (1917–1985)novel, short story13Michel Butor (1926–2016)poetry, novel, essays, translationLars Gyllensten (1921–2006)14Elias Canetti (1905–1994)novel, drama, memoir, essaysKeith Spalding (1913–2002)15Josep Carner (1884–1970)poetry, drama, translationManuel Durán (1925–2020)16Jean Cassou (1897–1986)novel, essays, literary criticism, poetry, translationGiannēs Koutsocheras (1904–1994)17Paul Celan (1920–1970)poetry, translation18Aimé Césaire (1913–2008)poetry, drama, essaysUnion of Finnish Writers19André Chamson (1900–1983)novel, essays20René Char (1907–1988)poetryHenri Peyre (1901–1988)21Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986)novel, drama, memoir, philosophy, essays, short storyHenning Fenger (1921–1985)22Joseph Delteil (1894–1978)poetry, novel, short story, essaysCharles Camproux (1908–1994)23Ivan Drach (1936–2018)poetry, literary criticism, dramaOmeljan Pritsak (1919–2006)24Carlos Drummond de Andrade (1902–1987)poetry, essaysArtur Lundkvist (1906–1991)25Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990)novel, short story, poetry, drama, essaysHaydn Trevor Mason (1929–2018)26Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)drama, novel, short story, essays27Rabbe Enckell (1903–1974)short story, poetryCarl Fredrik Sandelin (1925–)28José Maria Ferreira de Castro (1898–1978)novel29Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970)novel, short story, drama, essays, biography, literary criticism30Max Frisch (1911–1991)novel, drama31Étienne Gilson (1884–1978)philosophyPierre Courcelle (1912–1980)32Jean Giono (1895–1970)novel, short story, essays, poetry, dramaEdmond Jarno (1905–1985)33Witold Gombrowicz (1904–1969)short story, novel, dramaJan Kott (1914–2001)34Günter Grass (1927–2015)novel, drama, poetry, essays35Robert Graves (1895–1985)history, novel, poetry, literary criticism, essays36Graham Greene (1904–1991)novel, short story, autobiography, essaysYves Le Hir (1919–2005)37Jorge Guillén (1893–1984)poetry, literary criticism38Louis Guilloux (1899–1980)novel, short story, memoirJean-Bertrand Barrère (1914–1985)39Gunnar Gunnarsson (1889–1975)novel, short story, poetry40Hồ Hữu Tường (1910–1980)essays, short story, translationĐông Hồ (1906–1969)41Vladimír Holan (1905–1980)poetry, essays42Taha Hussein (1889–1973)novel, short story, poetry, translation43Yasushi Inoue (1907–1991)novel, poetry, short story, essaysErich Ruprecht (1906–1997)44Eugène Ionesco (1909–1994)drama, essaysEyvind Johnson (1900–1976)45Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894–1980)poetry, essays, drama, translation, short story, novelJózef Trypućko (1910–1983)46Mohammad-Ali Jamalzadeh (1892–1997)short story, translationJes Peter Asmussen (1928–2002)47Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) novel, short story Pär Lagerkvist (1891–1974)48Marcel Jouhandeau (1888–1979)short story, novelJean Gaulmier (1905–1997)49Pierre Jean Jouve (1887–1976)poetry, novel, literary criticismHenry Bouillier (1924–2014)50Bernhard Karlgren (1889–1978)history, philology, translationWalter Fuchs (1914–1993)51Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981)poetry, drama, short story, novel, essays 52Karl Krolow (1915–1999)poetry, essays, translationEmil Ernst Ploss (1925–1972)53Siegfried Lenz (1926–2014)novel, short story, essays, dramaErnst Wilhelm Meyer (1892–1969)54Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908–2008)philosophy, essays55Väinö Linna (1920–1992)novelIiro Ilkka Kajanto (1925–1997)56Robert Lowell (1917–1977)poetry, translationWilliam Alfred (1922–1999)57Hugh MacLennan (1907–1990)novel, essaysLawrence Lande (1906–1998)58André Malraux (1901–1976)novel, essays, literary criticism59Jacques Maritain (1882–1973)philosophyCharles Dédéyan (1910–2003)60Gustave Lucien Martin-Saint-René (1888–1973)poetry, novel, essays, literary criticism, drama, songwriting, short story61Harry Martinson (1904–1978)poetry, novel, drama, essays62László Mécs (1895–1978)poetry, essaysWatson Kirkconnell (1895–1977)63Arthur Miller (1915–2005)drama, screenplay, essaysRobert Ernest Spiller (1896–1988)64Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973)novel, drama, historyGunnar Tilander (1894–1973)65Eugenio Montale (1896–1981)poetry, translation66Alberto Moravia (1907–1990)novel, literary criticism, essays, dramaJacques Robichez (1914–1999)67Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)novel, short story, poetry, drama, translation, literary criticism, memoirSimon Karlinsky (1924–2009)68Pablo Neruda (1904–1973)poetry69Germán Pardo García (1902–1991)poetryJames Willis Robb (1918–2010)70José María Pemán (1897–1981)poetry, drama, novel, essays, screenplay71Robert Pinget (1919–1997)novel, dramaArtur Lundkvist (1906–1991)72Ezra Pound (1885–1972)poetry, essaysHans Galinsky (1909–1991)73Anthony Powell (1905–2000)novel, drama, essays, memoirJean Hamard (1920-2012).74Raymond Queneau (1903–1976)novel, poetry, essaysT. van den Heuvel (–)75Jean Rateau-Landeville (1894–1972)essaysPierre Flottes (1895–1994)76Alain Robbe-Grillet (1922–2008)novel, short story, essays, screenplaysHenry Olsson (1896–1985)77Gustave Roud (1897–1976)poetry, translationHenri Perrochon (1899–1990)78Hans Ruin (1891–1980)philosophyArthur Arnholtz (1901–1973)79Hannu Salama (1936–)novel, short story, poetryOsmo Hormia (1926–1983)80Nathalie Sarraute (1900–1999)novel, drama, essaysLars Gyllensten (1921–2006)81Anna Seghers (1900–1983)novel, short storyHeinz Kamnitzer (1917–2001)82 Jaroslav Seifert (1901–1986) poetry, memoir, translationRoman Jacobson (1896–1982)83Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906–2001)poetry, essays84Ignazio Silone (1900–1978)novel, short story, essays, dramaArthur Ernest Gordon (1902–1989)85Claude Simon (1913–2005)novel, essaysEyvind Johnson (1900–1976)86Ton Smerdel (1904–1970)philology, poetry, essays, literary criticism, translationChristiaan Alphonsus van den Berk (1919–1979)87Aleksandr Solzjenitsyn (1918–2008)novel, short story, essays88Zaharia Stancu (1902–1974)poetry, novel, philosophy, essays89Stijn Streuvels (1871–1969)novel, short storyMaurice Gilliams (1900–1982)90John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892–1973)novel, short story, poetry, philology, essays, literary criticismRichard Ernest Wycherley (1909–1985)91Friedebert Tuglas (1886–1971)short story, literary criticismUnion of Finnish Writers92Pietro Ubaldi (1886–1972)philosophy, essaysAcademia Santista de Letras93Marie Under (1883–1980)poetryUnion of Finnish Writers94Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970)poetry, essays, literary criticism95Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970)poetry, novel96Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971) novel, poetry, essays, translation97Gerard Walschap (1898–1989)novel, drama, essays98Mika Waltari (1908–1979)short story, novel, poetry, drama, essays, screenplayEsko Pennanen (1912–1990)99Arnold Wesker (1932–2016)drama, novel, essaysClaude Albert Mayer (1918–1998)100Patrick White (1912–1990)novel, short story, drama, poetry, autobiography101Thornton Wilder (1897–1975)drama, novel, short story102Edmund Wilson (1895–1972)essays, literary criticism, short story, dramaRobert Brustein (1927–2023)103Carl Zuckmayer (1896–1977)drama, screenplay

Prize decision The decision to award Samuel Beckett was controversial within the Swedish Academy. While some members of the Nobel committee was enthusiastic about the idea of awarding Beckett, the Nobel committee chairman Anders Österling had serious doubts that Beckett's writing was in the spirit of Alfred Nobel's will. In 1964 he had argued that he "would almost consider a Nobel prize for him as an absurdity in his own style". Beckett was a leading candidate for the 1968 prize along with André Malraux, W.H. Auden and the Japanese writer Yasunari Kawabata, but was rejected in favour of Kawabata.Alison Flood Samuel Beckett rejected as unsuitable for the Nobel prize in 1968 The Guardian 10 January 2018