Enjoy some poetry
“That sail which leans on light,
tired of islands,
a schooner beating up the Caribbean”
The 1992 Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature Derek Walcott reads his poem ‘Sea Grapes’ from Collected poems 1948-1984.
More about Derek Walcott
Louise Glück – Nobel Prize in Literature 2020
There is a moment after you move your eye away
when you forget where you are
because you’ve been living, it seems,
somewhere else, in the silence of the night sky.
Octavio Paz – Nobel Prize in Literature 1990
If you are the amber mare
I am the road of blood
If you are the first snow
I am he who lights the hearth of dawn …
“I think sometimes of poems I have lost –
Maybe their loss it was that saved the world”
The 1986 Nobel Laureate in Literature Wole Soyinka reads his poem ‘Lost Poems’ from Samarkand and other markets I have known.
More about Wole Soyinka
“I prefer movies.
I prefer cats.
I prefer the oaks along the Warta.
I prefer Dickens to Dostoyevsky.
I prefer myself liking people
to myself loving mankind.”
“I was but what you’d brush
with your palm, what your leaning
brow would hunch to in evening’s
raven-black hush.
I was but what your gaze
in that dark could distinguish:
a dim shape to begin with,
later – features, a face.”
See the list of all Nobel Prize laureates in literature and why they were awarded the prize.
Who wrote what?
Can you pair the correct poem with the Nobel Prize awarded poet? Have a try!
Questions and answers
The Nobel Prize categories are physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace and were laid out in the will of Alfred Nobel. Find out more in the FAQ.
The Nobel Prize medal.
© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Clément Morin.
News
Truth, Trust and Hope
Nobel Prize Summit 2023
We live in a world of interconnected crises: emerging pandemics and health emergencies, inflationary and monetary pressures, war, climate change and increased stresses on society and the environment. The volume, velocity and reach of disinformation in today’s world weaken public deliberation and undermine trust in scientists, the institutions and governments they serve – and democracy itself.
Join the Nobel Foundation and U.S. National Academy of Sciences online or in-person for the Nobel Prize Summit: Truth, Trust and Hope from 24-26 May 2023. Registration is now open.
Join the Nobel Foundation and U.S. National Academy of Sciences online or in-person for the Nobel Prize Summit: Truth, Trust and Hope from 24-26 May 2023. Registration is now open.
Nobel Prize awarded work
Nobel Peace Prize 2022
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski has long advocated for fundamental human rights, democracy and freeing the political prisoners in Belarusian jails. Read his Nobel Peace Prize lecture here.
Portrait of Ales Bialiatski.
Foto: HRC Vesna
Watch the documentary series
A team of female Yazidi deminers in Iraq attempting to clear their land of mines left behind by ISIS. A team of scientists on an extraordinary mission in Mozambique to help better our understanding of climate change. A man building prosthetic legs to help victims of war walk again in South Sudan … All are inspired by Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
Nobel Prize nominations
The Norwegian Nobel Committee received 305 candidates for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize. 93 of these are organisations.
Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony 2021 in the Oslo City Hall in Norway.
© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Geir Anders Rybakken Ørslien.
Did you know that there is no public list of the current year’s nominees for the peace prize? The complete list of nominees of any year’s prizes is not disclosed for 50 years. The same goes for all the prize categories. Learn more about the nomination process in a this Q&A.
The nomination process for Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
© Nobel Media. Ill. Niklas Elmehed
Nobel Prizes 2022
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2022
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2022 was awarded jointly to Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger “for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science.”
© Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2022
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2022 was awarded jointly to Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless “for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry.”
© Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2022
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2022 was awarded to Svante Pääbo “for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution.”
© The Nobel Committe for Physiology or Medicine. Ill. Mattias Karlén
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2022
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2022 was awarded to Annie Ernaux “for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory.”
Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach
The Nobel Peace Prize 2022
The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organisation Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organisation Center for Civil Liberties.
Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2022
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2022 was awarded jointly to Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig “for research on banks and financial crises.”
© Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Discover Nobel Prize lessons
Bring the 2022 Nobel Prizes into the classroom! The lessons are free and easy to use right away with ready-made slide shows, a speaker’s manuscripts and student assignments.
The 2022 prizes range from research on quantum mechanics and research on human evolution to documenting war crimes and the role of banks in financial crises.
The 2022 prizes range from research on quantum mechanics and research on human evolution to documenting war crimes and the role of banks in financial crises.
Illustrations: Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, The Nobel Committe for Physiology or Medicine. Ill. Mattias Karlén and Niklas Elmehed. © Nobel Prize Outreach
Explore prizes and laureates
Nobel Prize lectures 2022
Alfred Nobel – Established the Nobel Prize
On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will in Paris, France. The Swedish dynamite millionaire, who thought that his invention would end all wars, had now realised that it was a very deadly product. Wanting to make amends, he did what no man of such wealth had done before …
On 10 December 1901 the first Nobel Prizes were awarded, in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. Read more about the first prizes.
Chemist, engineer and industrialist Alfred Nobel left 31 million SEK (today about 265 million dollar) to fund the Nobel Prizes. Read more about his life and work.
Play a game!
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1930
How much do you know about blood types? Did you know that human blood groups were discovered by Nobel Prize laureate Karl Landsteiner in 1901?
Learn more about the way to find out about the human blood groups, blood typing and the importance of safe blood transfusions. See if you can save the lives of the patients in the game!
Learn more about the way to find out about the human blood groups, blood typing and the importance of safe blood transfusions. See if you can save the lives of the patients in the game!
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1904
Is it possible to train a dog to drool on command? Learn about conditioned reflexes in this interactive game!
With this animated game, teachers are able to illustrate classical conditioning in the classroom. The object of the game is to train Pavlov’s dog to respond to a signal that it will associate with being fed.
In 1904, Ivan Pavlov was awarded with Nobel Prize for his pioneering studies of how the digestive system works.
With this animated game, teachers are able to illustrate classical conditioning in the classroom. The object of the game is to train Pavlov’s dog to respond to a signal that it will associate with being fed.
In 1904, Ivan Pavlov was awarded with Nobel Prize for his pioneering studies of how the digestive system works.
Try a puzzle
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019
The discovery of the 2019 chemistry laureates have a huge everyday impact for us. But what did they discover?
Try the puzzle and find out
Try the puzzle and find out
What are you looking for? Search the website.
Nobel destinations
Stockholm, Sweden
The Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm, Sweden, illustrates a century of creativity, where visitors can follow the changes of the 20th century through the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Prize laureates.
The museum showcases the discoveries and creativity of the Nobel Prize laureates.
Photo: Åke Eson Lindman
Oslo, Norway
Located in the heart of Oslo, Norway, the Nobel Peace Center is a place where you can experience and learn about the various Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
The story of each peace laureate is told at the museum.
Photo: Johannes Granseth/Nobel Peace Center
In memoriam
Japanese author Kenzaburo Oe passed away on 3 March 2023. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1994 with the motivation “who with poetic force creates an imagined world, where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today.”
Paul Berg passed away on 15 February, age 96. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1980 “for his fundamental studies of the biochemistry of nucleic acids, with particular regard to recombinant-DNA”.
K. Alexander Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1987 for the discovery of new superconducting materials He passed away on 9 January, age 95.
Edward C. Prescott passed away on 6 November 2022, age 81. He was awarded the 2004 prize in economic sciences for his contributions to dynamic macroeconomics. The work influenced the monetary and fiscal policies of governments and laid the basis for the increased independence of many central banks.
