\n<\/p>\n
About five years ago, Ankhi Mukherjee, a professor of world literature at Oxford University, received a letter asking whether she wanted to nominate someone for the Nobel Prize in Literature. She assumed it was a hoax.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe the process was so informal,\u201d Mukherjee recalled in an interview.<\/p>\n
Only after talking with colleagues, many of whom had received the same surprise in the mail, did Mukherjee realize the request was genuine. The sudden responsibility \u201cwas exciting,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n
The Nobel Prize is arguably the world\u2019s most secretive literary award. A casual observer could be forgiven for thinking that each October a handful of Swedish literary experts simply meet in a grand hall in Stockholm and then argue over which author, poet, playwright or musician to give that year\u2019s award to.<\/p>\n
In reality, the process is far more byzantine.<\/p>\n
Each November, the Swedish Academy sends out thousands of letters<\/a> seeking nominations. A request goes to every living laureate, to the chairs of writers\u2019 organizations, to \u201cprofessors of literature and language subjects\u201d at prominent universities, as well as to members of the Swedish Academy and similar institutions around the world.<\/p>\n Once a nominator submits their choice, the academy sends them a thank-you note (until recently, it arrived in the mail on embossed paper), but otherwise breaks off contact. Nominators are barred from speaking about their choices \u2014 Mukherjee declined to discuss whether she had ever taken up the academy\u2019s offer to nominate somebody.<\/p>\n Nominators\u2019 suggestions are also kept secret in the Nobel Prize archives<\/a> for 50 years, although the online archive now makes public all of the nominations from 1901 to 1971.<\/p>\n In January, the academy collates all of the suggestions to draw up a longlist of about 300 names. Then the members of the its special Nobel Committee whittle the list down, sometimes adding their own picks. In May, the committee presents a shortlist of five candidates to the wider academy<\/a>, and its members are invited to catch up on each writer\u2019s work before choosing a laureate in the fall.<\/p>\n What makes a good Nobel choice? For Mukherjee, a writer must have produced a \u201ccritical mass of excellent writing which also innovates continually.\u201d<\/p>\n For other Nobel observers, more prosaic considerations are also important. Jacob Blakesley, an associate professor in comparative literature at the University of Rome, said that an author was more likely to be given the Nobel if their work has been translated into Swedish, since that is most Academy members\u2019 native tongue.<\/p>\n