German Novelist Herta Mueller Wins Nobel for Literature

(NEWSER) - With Herta Mueller joining the ranks of Nobel laureates today, it seems like a good time to look back at some of the other literary giants that have been honored since the turn of the century. For a full list of all the winners since 1960, check the AP source. View photos at left. More»

Novelist, who lives part-time in US, wins $1.4M prize

(NEWSER) - This year's Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, reports the AP, a novelist often called France's greatest living writer. The Swedish Academy praised him as an "author of new departures, poetic adventure, and sensual ecstasy." The 68-year-old, who lives part of the year in New Mexico, is the first French author to win the $1.4 million prize since 1985. More»

Feminist pioneer awarded literature's top honor

(NEWSER) - The Swedish Academy has awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Literature to Doris Lessing, the Persian-born British author whose novels stand at the center of the feminist movement. The author of such classics as The Golden Notebook and The Good Terrorist did not figure among pundits' predictions for this year's winner. At 87, she becomes the oldest person ever to win the Nobel. More»

Jury member was not impressed with storytelling

(NEWSER) - His novels became classics, but back in 1961, JRR Tolkien's work wasn't good enough for the Nobel Prize committee. The Lord of the Rings author was nominated that year by fellow fantasy author CS Lewis, but the committee rejected him because his writing wasn't good enough, the Telegraph reports. In documents released half a century later, one jury member says Tolkien's work "has not in any way measured up to storytelling of the highest quality." Also rejected that year: Robert Frost (too old) and EM Forster ("a shadow of his former self."). More»

As he nears 200, the novelist is more relevant than ever: Michael Levenson

(NEWSER) - Charles Dickens wrote in the 19th century, but at nearly 200 years old, he’s an expert on the 21st century as well. "For the mid-Victorians, government intervention was unthinkable, the market was king, only private philanthropy was tolerated," writes Michael Levenson for Slate . In other words, to paraphrase a Tale of Two Cities, it was a time much like the present. Dickens "has caught up to us, or we have reverted to him," Levenson notes. "Either way, it’s time to return to Dickens." More»