No Favorite for 2010 Nobel

We know that the Nobel Prize for Literature will be announced on a Thursday in October, though we don’t know which one. Beyond that, what do we know? According to The Complete Review, probably not very much.

So while academician-favorites are always considered ... it is very hit and miss as to who else is in the mix of authors-under-consideration. Every year a few submitted names leak out, as local institutions and worthies (usually from smaller countries that don't get much literary attention) show off their (supposed) influence; among this year's batch Paraguayan Néstor Amarilla has attracted a bit of notice ... leading Unibet to mistakenly make him the 4/1 favorite to take the prize....

Complete Review discusses long shots and those likely to make the shortlist and even examines the authors whom the bookmakers have given much better odds than last year. Complete Review’s own favorite for the Nobel shortlist includes Bella Akhmadulina, A.S. Byatt, Les Murray, Michel Tournier and Adam Zagajewski.

Meanwhile, the Nobel website reminds us that a great deal is at stake:

The honoured author receives the prize (10 million SEK in 2007) from the hands of the King in Stockholm Concert Hall on December 10th – Nobel Day.

The complete list of nobel laureates in literature -- dating back to France’s Sully Prudhomme in 1901, is here.