2019 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to Peter Handke. The prize was announced by the Swedish Academy in Stockholm on 10 October 2019.

The citation

The citation reads: "for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience".

The laureate

Peter Handke was born in 1942 in Griffen, Austria.

Why it matters

The Austrian writer's work includes novels, plays and screenplays. His award was criticised by some because of his support for Serbia during the Yugoslav wars.

The prize

The prize is worth 9 million Swedish kronor. It will be presented at a ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite whose will founded the prizes in 1895.