# 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded the Soviet-Russian author Boris Pasternak (1890–1960) "for his important achievement both in contemporary lyrical poetry and in the field of the great Russian epic tradition." He is the second Russian-language writer to be awarded with such honor.
Pasternak first accepted the prize honour, but was then pressured by the Soviet Union authorities to decline the prize. In 1988, Pasternak's son accepted the prize on his behalf.

## Laureate

Boris Pasternak's modernist-leaning poetry first came to light in the 1910s and 1920s, when he published collections of poems such as Sestra moya—zhizn ("My Sister, Life", 1922) and Vtoroe rozhdenie ("A Second Birth", 1932). He began to emphasize social issues more and use clearer, simpler language in the 1930s. The existential is another theme in Pasternak's writings, covering nature, life, humanity, and love. The renowned 1957 novel Doctor Zhivago, which takes place between the socialist revolution of 1905 and World War II, demonstrates this.

## Deliberations
### Nominations

Pasternak earned 9 nominations in total. He was first introduced for the Nobel Prize in 1946 by English literary critic Maurice Bowra. In 1958, after receiving three recommendations from Renato Poggioli, Harry Levin and Ernest Simmons, he was eventually awarded thereafter.
In total, the Nobel Committee for Literature received 70 nominations for 42 authors such as Riccardo Bacchelli, Robert Frost, Graham Greene, André Malraux, Ramón Menéndez Pidal, Alberto Moravia, Jean-Paul Sartre (awarded in 1964), Ignazio Silone, John Steinbeck (awarded in 1962), Giuseppe Ungaretti and Thornton Wilder. Seventeen of the nominees were newly nominated namely Ivo Andrić (awarded in 1961), Fernand Baldensperger, Elizabeth Bowen, Maurice Bowra, James Gould Cozzens, John Hersey, Miroslav Krleža, Junzaburō Nishiwaki, John Cowper Powys, Salvatore Quasimodo (awarded in 1959), Rudolf Alexander Schröder, Georges Simenon, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Lionel Trilling, Elio Vittorini, Robert Penn Warren and Tennessee Williams. There were only five women authors nominated: Karen Blixen, Edith Sitwell, Elizabeth Bowen, Gertrud von le Fort and Marie Under.
The authors Eleanor Hallowell Abbott, Zoe Akins, Mary Ritter Beard, Til Brugman, James Branch Cabell, Rachel Crothers, Anurupa Debi, Lionel Giles, Feodor Gladkov, Michael Joseph, Henry Kuttner, Cyril M. Kornbluth, Irene Lisboa, Dorothy Macardle, Rose Macaulay, George Edward Moore, George Jean Nathan, Seumas O'Sullivan, Elliot Paul, Máiréad "Peig" Sayers, Robert W. Service, John Collings Squire, Marie Stopes, Ralph Waldo Trine, Ethel Turner, Alfred Weber, and Geoffrey Willans died in 1958 without having been nominated for the award. The French literary scholar Fernand Baldensperger died before the only chance to be rewarded.
Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize :
| No. | Nominee | Country | Genre(s) | Nominator(s) |
| 1 | Ivo Andrić (1892–1975) | Yugoslavia | novel, short story, poetry | Association of Writers of Yugoslavia |
| 2 | Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985) | Italy | novel, drama, essays | Hans Nilsson-Ehle (1910–1983) |
| 3 | Fernand Baldensperger (1871–1958) | France | essays, literary criticism, poetry | Alan Carey Taylor (1905–1975) |
| 4 | Karen Blixen (1885–1962) | Denmark | novel, short story, memoir | Elias Wessén (1889–1981) |
| 5 | Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973) | Ireland United Kingdom | novel, short story, essays | Roman Jakobson (1896–1982) |
| 6 | Maurice Bowra (1898–1971) | United Kingdom | history, essays, literary criticism, poetry | Ernest Ludwig Stahl (1902–1992) |
| 7 | Martin Buber (1878–1965) | Austria Israel | philosophy | Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) |
| 8 | James Gould Cozzens (1903–1978) | United States | novel | Gordon S. Haight (1901–1985) |
| 9 | Gonzague de Reynold (1880–1970) | Switzerland | history, essays, biography, memoir | Pierre-Henri Simon (1903–1972) |
| 10 | Robert Frost (1874–1963) | United States | poetry, drama | W. Cabell Greet (1901–1972)Howard Mumford Jones (1892–1980)Alfred Harbage (1901–1976)Douglas Bush (1896–1983)Leon Edel (1907–1997) |
| 11 | Graham Greene (1904–1991) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, autobiography, essays | Kristian Smidt (1916–2013) |
| 12 | John Hersey (1914–1993) | United States | novel, short story, essays | Helen Rose Hull (1888–1971) |
| 13 | Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981) | Yugoslavia | poetry, drama, short story, novel, essays | Association of Writers of Yugoslavia |
| 14 | André Malraux (1901–1976) | France | novel, essays, literary criticism | Louis L. Martz (1913–2001)Jean Hytier (1899–1983)Wilbur Merrill Frohock (1908–1984) |
| 15 | Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) | Spain | philology, history | Alexander A. Parker (1908–1989)Edward Meryon Wilson (1906–1977)Gunnar Tilander (1894–1973)Several professors |
| 16 | Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) | Italy | novel, literary criticism, essays, drama | Stuart Pratt Atkins (1914–2000)Hans Nilsson-Ehle (1910–1983) |
| 17 | Junzaburō Nishiwaki (1894–1982) | Japan | poetry, literary criticism | Naoshirō Tsuji (1899–1979) |
| 18 | Boris Pasternak (1890–1960) | Soviet Union | poetry, novel, translation | Ernest Simmons (1903–1972)Harry Levin (1912–1994)Renato Poggioli (1907–1963) |
| 19 | Saint-John Perse (1887–1975) | France | poetry | Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888–1965)Henri Peyre (1901–1988)Archibald MacLeish (1892–1982)American Academy of Arts and Letters |
| 20 | John Cowper Powys (1872–1963) | United Kingdom | philosophy, novel, literary criticism, poetry, essays, short story | Enid Starkie (1897–1970) |
| 21 | Salvatore Quasimodo (1901–1968) | Italy | poetry, translation | Maurice Bowra (1898–1971)Carlo Bo (1911–2001)Francesco Flora (1891–1962) |
| 22 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975) | India | philosophy, essays, law | Nirmal Kumar Sidhanta (1929–2014) |
| 23 | Alfonso Reyes Ochoa (1889–1959) | Mexico | philosophy, essays, novel, poetry | Angel del Río (1901–1962) |
| 24 | Carl Sandburg (1878–1967) | United States | poetry, essays, biography | Henning Larsen (1889–1971) |
| 25 | Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) | France | philosophy, novel, drama, essays, screenplay | Kristian Smidt (1916–2013) |
| 26 | Rudolf Alexander Schröder (1878–1962) | West Germany | poetry, songwriting, translation | Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888–1965)Robert Minder (1902–1980)Friedrich Märker (1893–1985)Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts |
| 27 | Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984) | Soviet Union | novel | Johannes Andreasson Dale (1898–1975)Johannes Edfelt (1904–1997)Harry Martinson (1904–1978) |
| 28 | Ignazio Silone (1900–1978) | Italy | novel, short story, essays, drama | Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961)Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
| 29 | Georges Simenon (1903–1989) | Belgium | novel, short story, memoir | Justin O'Brien (1906–1968)Fernand Desonay (1899–1973)Belgian Association of Writers |
| 30 | Edith Sitwell (1887–1964) | United Kingdom | poetry, essays, memoir | Walter MacKellar (1927–2016) |
| 31 | John Steinbeck (1902–1968) | United States | novel, short story, screenplay | Lennox Grey (?) |
| 32 | Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886–1965) | Japan | novel, short story | Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) |
| 33 | Lionel Trilling (1905–1975) | United States | essays, literary criticism, short story | Charles Warren Everett (1895–1983) |
| 34 | Marie Under (1883–1980) | Estonia | poetry | William Kleesmann Matthews (1901–1958) |
| 35 | Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970) | Italy | poetry, essays, literary criticism | Howard R. Marraro (1897–1972) |
| 36 | Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970) | Norway | poetry, novel | Harald Beyer (1891–1960) |
| 37 | Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971) | Netherlands | novel, poetry, essays, translation | Benjamin Hunningher (1903–1991) |
| 38 | Elio Vittorini (1908–1966) | Italy | novel, short story | Stuart Pratt Atkins (1914–2000) |
| 39 | Gertrud von Le Fort (1876–1971) | West Germany | novel, short story, essays, poetry | Hermann Kunisch (1901–1991)Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts |
| 40 | Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989) | United States | novel, poetry, essays, literary criticism | René Wellek (1903–1995) |
| 41 | Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) | United States | drama, novel, short story | Jean Boorsch (1906–2008)Heinz Bluhm (1907–1993)Frederick Albert Pottle (1897–1987)Henry D. Hatfield (1875–1962) |
| 42 | Tennessee Williams (1911–1983) | United States | drama, novel, screenplay, short story, poetry | Napier Wilt (1896–1975) |