Home Art South Korean Author Han Kang Wins 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature

South Korean Author Han Kang Wins 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature

South Korean author Han Kang wins literature Nobel

STOCKHOLM — South Korean author Han Kang has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Swedish Academy announced on Thursday. The prestigious accolade recognizes her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”

Han, 53, becomes the first South Korean to receive the literature prize, which carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.1 million). Her selection marks a significant moment for Asian literature on the global stage.

Anders Olsson, chairman of the academy’s Nobel Committee, praised Han’s unique literary style. “She has a distinctive awareness of the connections between body and soul, the living and the dead, and in her poetic and experimental style has become an innovator in contemporary prose,” Olsson said in a statement.

Han’s literary journey began in 1993 with the publication of several poems in the magazine Literature and Society. Her prose debut came two years later with the short story collection “Love of Yeosu.” However, it was her novel “The Vegetarian” that catapulted her to international acclaim.

The announcement came as a surprise to many literary observers. Bookmakers had favored other candidates, including Chinese writer Can Xue, Kenyan author Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, Australian Gerald Murnane, and Canadian poet Anne Carson.

The literature prize, often considered the most publicly accessible of the Nobel awards, frequently sparks debate in literary circles. The Swedish Academy’s choices have historically been met with both praise and criticism, sometimes in equal measure.

Over the years, the omission of literary giants such as Russia’s Leo Tolstoy, France’s Emile Zola, and Ireland’s James Joyce has raised eyebrows. More recently, the 2016 award to American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan was seen as both a radical reimagining of literature and a potential slight to more traditional authors.

The Nobel Prizes, established through the will of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, have been awarded since 1901 for achievements in science, literature, and peace. The literature prize, in particular, can significantly boost an author’s global profile and book sales, although the effect can be short-lived for lesser-known writers.

Han Kang joins a distinguished list of laureates that includes W.B. Yeats, Ernest Hemingway, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. She succeeds Norwegian author Jon Fosse, who received the award in 2023.

The literature prize is the fourth Nobel to be announced this week, following the awards in medicine, physics, and chemistry. As the literary world celebrates Han’s achievement, attention now turns to the remaining Nobel Prizes yet to be revealed, including the highly anticipated Peace Prize.