The Swedish Academy has selected the winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in literature and will announce the decision next week after a formal vote, the panel’s spokesman said on Friday.
Peter Englund, permanent secretary of the 16-member academy, said the decision will be announced on October 7, completing the schedule for 2010 prize ann-ouncements, which kick off on Monday with the medicine award. “The winner has de facto been appointed,” Englund told the AP in the academy’s 18th-century office in Stockholm’s Old Town. “Then on Thursday we have a formal vote, but yes, we have agreed upon a laureate.” Englund declined to give any hints about the academy’s choice. The selection process is shrouded in secrecy, nominations are kept secret for 50 years.
Syrian poet Adonis, Americans Philip Roth and Joyce Carol Oates, South Korea’s Ko Un and Algerian writer Assia Djebar are among the names figuring in speculation ahead of 2010 prize. The year 2009 literature award went to Romanian-born German writer Herta Mueller. —AP
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Denzel will host concert
Los Angeles: Academy award winning actor Denzel Washington will play host at the 17th annual Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway.
The Training Day star takes over the mantle from Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith who hosted 2009 concert, honouring US President Barack Obama. The show will feature performances by world-renowned artists including jazz pianist Herbie Hancock. —PTI