How the Nobel Prize in Literature is selected

All eyes in the literary world will turn to Stockholm on Thursday, October 8, when the Swedish Academy announces the winner of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature.

The announcement is scheduled for around 1:00 p.m. CEST and will be made by Ingrid Carlberg, the Academy’s new permanent secretary.

The Swedish Academy, which awards the literature prize, has 18 members drawn from writers, professors and other intellectuals.

The selection process officially begins about a year before the announcement. In September, the Academy’s Nobel Committee sends nomination forms to hundreds of people and organisations eligible to propose candidates.

According to the Nobel Prize website, eligible nominators include university and college professors of literature and linguistics, previous Nobel laureates in literature and heads of writers’ associations representing literary communities in their countries.

Eligible individuals who do not receive a nomination form may also submit a proposal.

“The list can reach 200 names per year of nominated authors,” said Gisele Sapiro, research director at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research. Sapiro studies the Nobel Prize’s influence on the global circulation of literature, literary power structures and translation markets.

The Nobel Committee can also add candidates, including authors who have been nominated in previous years, she said.

In the spring, the committee narrows the field to five candidates through a multistage process and presents the shortlist to the Swedish Academy.

Academy members spend the summer reading the nominees’ works and discussing their merits before reaching a decision.

The Academy traditionally announces the winner in early October.

However, it does not publicly disclose a detailed set of criteria for how it chooses the laureate, keeping the final deliberations largely confidential.