The 1930 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to American novelist Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters."The Nobel Prize in Literature 1930 nobelprize.org He is the first American Nobel laureate in literature.
Laureate
Sinclair Lewis was a prolific author having written 24 novels, more than 70 short stories, several plays and poetry collections. He is well known for the satirical novels Main Street (1920), Babbitt (1922), Dodsworth (1929), and It Can't Happen Here (1935) – all of which critical acknowledgments of American capitalism and materialism in the interwar period. His 1920 novel became a commercial success but did not win a Pulitzer Prize, which disappointed Lewis much that he declined the Pulitzer Prize when it was awarded to his novel Arrowsmith in 1925.Sinclair Lewis – Facts nobelprize.orgSinclair Lewis britannica.com
Deliberations Nominations Lewis had not been nominated before for the prize, making him one of the laureates who won on a rare occasion when they have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature the same year they were first nominated.Facts on the Nobel Prize in Literature nobelprize.org He received only one nomination from Swedish Academy member Henrik Schück (1855–1947).Nomination archive – Sinclair Lewis nobelprize.org
In total, the Swedish Academy's Nobel Committee received 47 nominations for 30 writers. Thirteen of the authors were first-time nominated among them Theodore Dreiser, Edgar Lee Masters, Frans Eemil Sillanpää (awarded in 1939), Arvid Järnefelt, Paul Valéry, Lion Feuchtwanger, Rudolf Kassner, and Clotilde Crespo de Arvelo. The highest number of nomination was for the French poet and essayist Paul Valéry with six nominations. There were three female nominees: Concha Espina de la Serna, Clotilde Crespo de Arvelo and Edith Wharton.Nomination archive – 1930 nobelprize.org
The authors Arthur St John Adcock, Vladimir Arsenyev, Florence Bell, Edward Bok, Alice Williams Brotherton, Mary Whiton Calkins, Herbert Croly, Georges de Porto-Riche, Arthur Conan Doyle, Florbela Espanca, Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, Thomas Nicoll Hepburn, Pavlos Karolidis, D. H. Lawrence, William John Locke, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Olena Pchilka, Maria Polydouri, Marion Manville Pope, George Haven Putnam, Karam Singh, Arthur Way, Lucien Wolf, Joseph Wright, Gabriel Miró and Manuel Zeno Gandía died in 1930 without having been nominated for the prize.
Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)1Rudolf Hans Bartsch (1873–1952)novel, short story, essays, drama2Rufino Blanco Fombona (1874–1844)essays, literary criticismJosé Francos Rodríguez (1862–1931)3Georg Bonne (1859–1945) essaysPrince Maximilian of Saxony (1870–1951)4Ivan Bunin (1870–1953) short story, novel, poetry Sigurd Agrell (1881–1937)5Clotilde Crespo de Arvelo (1887–1959)novel, poetry, essaysManuel María Villalobos (1858–1929)6Theodore Dreiser (1871–1945)novel, drama, poetry, essaysAnders Österling (1884–1981)7Hans Driesch (1867–1941)philosophy8Olav Duun (1876–1939) novel, short storyHalvdan Koht (1873–1965)9Paul Ernst (1866–1933) novel, short story, drama, essays10Concha Espina de la Serna (1869–1955)novel, short story11Édouard Estaunié (1862–1942)novel, literary criticismErik Staaff (1867–1936)12Lion Feuchtwanger (1884–1958) novel, dramaUlrik Anton Motzfeldt (1871–1942) 13Bertel Gripenberg (1878–1947)poetry, drama, essaysJohannes Sundwall (1877–1966)14Yrjö Hirn (1870–1952)essays, literary criticismOlaf Homén (1879–1949)15Arvid Järnefelt (1861–1932)law, essays, dramaOiva Tuulio (1878–1941)16Alois Jirásek (1851–1930)novel, drama17Rudolf Kassner (1873–1959) philosophy, essays, translation18Karl Kraus (1874–1936)essays, drama, poetryCharles Andler (1866–1933)19Manfred Kyber (1880–1933)drama, short story, poetry, essays, literary criticism20Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951)novel, short story, drama, poetryHenrik Schück (1855–1947)21Edgar Lee Masters (1868–1950)poetry, biography, drama, novel, essaysMartin Lamm (1880–1950)22Dmitry Merezhkovsky (1865–1941) novel, essays, poetry, drama Sigurd Agrell (1881–1937)23Kostis Palamas (1859–1943) poetry, essays24Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935)poetry, dramaHjalmar Hammarskjöld (1862–1953)25Johann Rump (1871–1949)(pseud. Nathanael Jünger)theology, essaysFredrik Wulff (1845–1930)26Frans Eemil Sillanpää (1888–1964) novel, short story, poetry27Paul Valéry (1871–1945) poetry, philosophy, essays, drama28Ernst von der Recke (1848–1933) poetry, drama29Edith Wharton (1862–1937)novel, short story, poetry, essaysTor Hedberg (1862–1931)30Anton Wildgans (1881–1932) poetry, dramaOswald Redlich (1858–1944)
Notes
Prize decision The main contenders for the 1930 prize were the American novelists Theodore Dreiser and Sinclair Lewis, who had both been nominated by members of the Swedish Academy's Nobel committee. Committee chair Per Hallström opposed a prize to an American author as he found that the contemporary American culture lacked the deeper ideals and "inner dignity" of the European culture, but got no support for this view within the Nobel committee. Hallström had found in his examinations of the two candidates that they had really only written one significant work each, An American Tragedy and Babbit, but noted that Lewis' most recent novel Dodsworth was also "partly brilliant", which seems to have been decisive in the Swedish Academy's decision to award Lewis. Committee member Anders Österling who favoured Dreiser unsuccessfully argued that the prize should be shared between the two authors.
Reactions The choice of Sinclair Lewis received mixed reactions. The British and European press were, in general, favourable. A Swedish newspaper stated that the prize decision was greeted with "general satisfaction", as the Swedish Academy for once had awarded a writer that was well known to the public. But in the United States reactions among critics and commentators were largely negative, dismissing Lewis' writing artistically and politically. Lewis rivalry with the American Nobel prize contender Theodore Dreiser was much noticed.
Award ceremony
At the award ceremony Erik Axel Karlfeldt, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, gave a speech in praise of Sinclair Lewis:
At the banquet, Tor Hedberg of the Swedish Academy addressed Sinclair Lewis and said:
References
External links Presentation Speech by Erik Axel Karlfeldt nobelprize.org