The door at the Swedish Academy.

© Nobel Media. Photo: K. Svanholm.

The Swedish Academy

Prize awarder for the Nobel Prize in Literature

The Swedish Academy is responsible for choosing the Nobel Prize laureates in literature.

By the terms of Alfred Nobel’s will the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded by the Swedish Academy since 1901.

The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by Swedish King Gustav III. The Academy is composed of 18 members whose tenure is for life. Known as “De Aderton” (The Eighteen), current members of the Academy include distinguished Swedish writers, linguists, literary scholars, historians and a prominent jurist. Its working body is the Nobel Committee, elected from among its members for a three-year term.

For more information, visit the Swedish Academy’s website.

Learn more about the process of nomination and selection of literature laureates.

To cite this section
MLA style: The Swedish Academy. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Fri. 29 Sep 2023. <https://www.nobelprize.org/about/the-swedish-academy/>

Coming up

This year’s Nobel Prize announcements will take place 2–9 October. All announcements will be streamed live here on nobelprize.org.

See the full schedule
Announcement dates