STOCKHOLM, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- A new committee will nominate the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2019 and 2020, the Swedish Television SVT reported on Monday.
The Swedish Academy, in cooperation with the Nobel Foundation, has decided to form a new Nobel Committee. The committee consists of ten members, of whom five are from the Swedish Academy -- Per Wastberg, Horace Engdahl, Kristina Lugn, Anders Olsson and Jesper Svenbro.
In addition, five external experts will sit in the committee -- Mikaela Blomqvist, Rebecka Karde, Kristoffer Leandoer, Henrik Petersen and Gun Britt Sundstrom. According to SVT, all the external members are authors and literary critics.
The executive director of the Nobel Foundation Lars Heinkensten writes in a press release that the five news members are a step in restoring the legitimacy of the Swedish Academy.
"By taking in five new independent members, we take distance from the events of the past year," Heinkensten said in a statement quoted by SVT.
"It is sad that the Nobel Prize in Literature will not be awarded this year. That is why it is amazing to work in this committee and save the prize in the coming years. Almost too good to be true," said Kristoffer Leandoer. He is one of the external members of the new committee.
