Judge says Nobel literature prizes 'too Eurocentric', ignores US authors

(6 Oct 2009) SHOTLIST AUDIO AS INCOMING 1. Various exteriors of Swedish academy 2. Nobel literature prize judge Peter Englund speaking to reporter 3. Mid of statue 4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Peter Englund, Nobel literature prize judge: "If you are European, this European outlook tends to colour your... when you encounter and you read literature. So I think this is honestly, this is sort of a problem, as if you're a man you always have to try to stretch the gender border of your own preferences. I think it's also important for all the academy to also look at that side, not becoming too eurocentric. I don't think it has ever been a question of 'we are looking for Europeans', but it's sort of a, as I said, we have this sort of drift towards that, men having it easier to relate to literature written by men, Europeans find it easier to relate to literature written in Europe or in the European tradition so it is a real problem." 5. Cutaway 6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Peter Englund, Nobel literature prize judge: "I think that the perspectives and cultures per se aren't that different. I think that the historical experiences, the historical context, the American or the United States' historical context is a lot different from the European context. But again I don't think there has been a distinct lack of American authors, I think that the academy can still feel proud of picking up a number of very good American authors. I don't think that it is a question that there aren't Nobel worthy American authors. There are." 7. Cutaway of Englund's hands 8. Englund getting up 9. Stockholm city view 10. Swedish flag on boat STORYLINE The new spokesman of the Nobel literature prize jury believes the secretive panel has been too "Eurocentric" in picking winners, and said on Tuesday there are plenty of American writers who would qualify for the coveted award. Peter Englund's comments, two days before the 2009 prize announcement, contrasted with his predecessor's view that US literature was too insular. Because award judges in the Swedish Academy are European they tend to have a "European outlook" on literature, said Englund, who replaced Horace Engdahl as the Swedish Academy's permanent secretary in June. "I think that is a problem," Englund said. "We tend to relate more easily to literature written in Europe and in the European tradition." He said being aware of this bias and "not becoming too Eurocentric" was important for the academy. Europeans have dominated the literature awards in recent years. Since Japanese writer Kenzaburo Oe won the award in 1994, all the winning writers save for Turkey's Orhan Pamuk and J.M. Coetzee of South Africa, have been European citizens. This year's crop of potential candidates includes Peru's Mario Vargas Llosa, Americans Phillip Roth and Joyce Carol Oates, Israel's Amos Oz and Syrian poet Adonis. Engdahl, the previous permanent secretary, last year stirred up heated emotions across the Atlantic when he told the AP that "Europe still is the centre of the literary world" and that the quality of US writing was dragged down because authors were "too sensitive to trends in their own mass culture." The last American winner was Toni Morrison, in 1993. Fifty-two-year-old Englund is the youngest member of the Swedish Academy. He reluctantly accepted the assignment as permanent secretary, which includes announcing the Nobel Prize in the academy's office in Stockholm's Old Town. The academy has selected the winner of the Nobel Prize in literature since 1901 in line with the wishes of Alfred Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...