New Academy Prize in Literature Opens Voting to Public

As we've previously noted, the New Academy Prize in Literature has formed out of the scandal-split Nobel Prize in Literature. The winner, reports Alex Marshall for the New York Times, "will be announced on Oct. 14, and will receive one million kronor, or around $112,000." One major difference between the two is the public's input. "Voting opened on the prize’s website this week with a 46-strong list of nominees, selected by Swedish librarians." More:

Rather than the highbrow and sometimes obscure names usually touted for the Nobel, this list includes J.K. Rowling, alongside the singer Patti Smith, the British fantasy writer Neil Gaiman and the Nigerian-born novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

There are also 12 Swedes, plus Zadie Smith, Donna Tartt and the French author Édouard Louis, 25, who is acclaimed for his books showing the brutal reality of working-class life in France.

Some authors who have been tipped for the Nobel are absent, such as the South Korean poet Ko Un and Salman Rushdie.

The voting, which closes on Aug. 14, will decide three finalists. Librarians will choose a fourth. A panel made up of a literature professor, two librarians and two literary editors will then choose the winner.

Ms. Pascalidou said the prize was not trying to replace the Nobel. In fact, the organizers plan to disband after this year’s ceremony. But she wants it to draw attention to what is wrong at the Swedish Academy, she said... 

Read on at the NYT.