When George Seferis Won the Nobel Prize, 1963; Behind the Scenes (Seferis versus Auden, Beckett and Nabokov)

From Svenska Dagbladet

"The fact that a Greek writer had never previously won the award may have played a role. The English language had already been richly rewarded".

När 1963 års Nobelpristagare i litteratur skulle väljas, ratade Akademiens ständige sekreterare Samuel Becketts ”nihilistiska” författarskap och Vladimir Nabokovs ”immoraliska succéroman Lolita”. I stället gick priset till den grekiske poeten Giorgos Seferis. Det visar handlingar som i dag, efter 50 år, blir offentliga.

The Swedish Academy's Nobel Committee was - for once - in complete agreement when it favoured the Greek poet and diplomat Giorgos Seferis for the 1963 Nobel Prize in Literature. It was obviously an easy choice, although the chief challenger, W.H. Auden, might have been a stronger candidate, when seen  from today's historical perspective.

Also on the list of candidates that the Nobel Committee discussed were a few controversial writers: Samuel Beckett, Pablo Neruda, Mikhail Sholokhov and Vladimir Nabokov. Anders Osterling, who vividly opposed these nominations, was unusually clear and principled in his rejections... Österling felt that all these candidates, for various reasons, did not live up to the Nobel Prize "moral intentions." He believed that Beckett's writing was negativistic, nihilistic and in many ways depressing ..." I find myself in any case incapable of lending my voice to Beckett and would almost consider a Nobel Prize for him as an absurdity after his own manner." Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1969.

Vladimir Nabokov never got the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was nominated for the first time in 1963. Österling wrote that his "immoral best-selling novel Lolita" could hardly be considered for a prize. While he acknowledged the author's excellent artistry and style, he stated that his "virtuosity, however, has nothing to do with the intentions of the Nobel Prize".