2024 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the South Korean author Han Kang (born 1970) "for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life". It was announced by the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, Sweden, on 10 October 2024 and was awarded on 10 December 2024.
She is the first South Korean and first Asian woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature, making her the 18th woman to win the Nobel Prize in that category.
Han Kang grew up with a literary background in Seoul, her father, Han Seung-won, being a reputed novelist. Alongside her passion for writing, she spends time exploring arts and music, which is reflected throughout her literary production. She started her career in 1993 with the publication of her poems in the literary magazine Literature and Society, and had her debut prose publication in 1995 with the short story collection Love of Yeosu [여수의 사랑]. Her major breakthrough came with the 2007 novel The Vegetarian [채식주의자], a book that portrays the violent consequences that ensue when its protagonist suddenly begins to refuse to eat meat. Her experimental and often disturbing stories are characterized by a double exposure of pain and a correspondence between mental and physical torment, confronting historical traumas and invisible sets of rules and the fragility of human life. Her other well-known works include Human Acts [소년이 온다], The White Book [흰], Greek Lessons [희랍어 시간] and We Do Not Part [작별하지 않는다].
After the announcement, Anders Olsson, chairman of the Academy's Nobel Committee, said in a statement:
Anna-Karin Palm was interviewed by Carin Klaesson, a correspondent of the Nobel Prize Museum, and described Han Kang's writing with the following statement:
Han Kang had just finished dinner with her son at her home in Seoul when she received the information. Both she and her son were so surprised that they did not even have the time to properly discuss it. She stated that she was "honored" to receive the prize. Being the first Nobel laureate in literature in South Korea, she said:
Asked by Nobel correspondent, Jenny Rydén, where someone just discovering her work should start, she suggested:
Later on, Han Kang said her celebrations would be low-key: "After this phone call I'd like to have tea with - I don't drink so - I'm going to have tea with my son and I'll celebrate it quietly tonight."
Discussing the choice of Han Kang as the Nobel laureate on Sveriges Television minutes after the announcement, a panel of the Swedish literature critics Ingrid Elam, Jonas Thente and author Lyra Ekström Lindbäck disagreed on the Swedish Academy's choice. Elam said it was a very good choice, calling Han Kang "a fantastic author", while the others had not been impressed by her writing. "Nobody is going to remember her in fifty years' time", Thente said.
A negative reaction also appeared in Expressen by literature critic Victor Malm who called it "a rather weak choice". Svenska Dagbladet's literature editor Josefin de Gregorio was pleased with the choice, praising Han Kang for her "dynamic, transgressive writing that portrays deep evil and great trauma with lyrical beauty and vulnerability" and the Academy's choice of a young and popular writer. Irish novelist Eimear McBride was also pleased, calling Han Kang "one of the greatest living writers"; “She is a voice for women, for truth and, above all, for the power of what literature can be. This is a very richly deserved win.”
The choice of Han Kang was well received by several German commentators, who found it a good choice and positive that the Swedish Academy after heavy focus on European literature in recent years had chosen a writer from another part of the world. "One can call it strange for an award that aims to do comparative justice to all national literatures that so far so few Asian or African authors have been given consideration”, Andreas Platthaus in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote.
While visiting Laos for a meeting of Asian leaders, South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol posted on his Facebook account his warmest greetings, saying:
BTS member V shared in the news on Instagram, writing: "I read your book 'Human Act: A Novel' in the army. Congratulations" alongside a bowing emoji. The literary critic Kim Seong-shin expressed that the Academy's choice of Han was beyond reproach, affirming: "I'd say she is the most deserving Korean novelist to be awarded the Nobel Prize."
A number of South Korean writers celebrated the news, among them Min Jin Lee, author of Pachinko, who commented: "Han Kang is a brilliant novelist who reflects our modern condition with courage, imagination, and intelligence. She is most worthy of this global recognition." Science fiction author Kim Bo-young said, "We cheer and rejoice. I am even prouder and happier that this winning of the prize directly refutes the foolishness of trying to hide and distort Korea's past history."
Han Kang delivered her Nobel lecture on 7 December 2024 at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm. Entitled Light and thread, she talked about the thread of language that connects people.
At the award ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December 2024, Ellen Mattson of the Swedish Academy and the Nobel committee spoke about the major theme in Han Kang's writing represented by two recurring colours:
The 2024 Nobel Committee is composed of the following members: