Nobel Prize in Literature 2018 cancelled

Stockholm, May 4: The Swedish Academy that decides the Nobel Prize for Literature said on Friday that it won’t announce the award for 2018 in the wake of a sexual and financial scandal that has engulfed the organisation.

The decision came after a string of sexual assault allegations made against French photographer Jean-Claude Arnault, a leading cultural figure in Sweden and husband of Academy member and poet Katarina Frostenson. Six Academy members, including her, stepped down following the crisis. For the first time in 75 years, the jury will not unveil a winner this year. The Academy said it will now announce the 2018 winner along with the 2019 winner.

Arnault, who ran a cultural project with funding from the Swedish Academy, has been accused by 18 women of sexual assault and harassment, first reported in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter in late 2017. Several of the alleged incidents reportedly happened in properties belonging to the Academy. (IANS)