Lit Prizes Cause Controversy

Days before this year's announcement of the Nobel Prize for Literature, one of the judges has quit over the committee's choice last year:

Academician Knut Ahnlund gave notice he was quitting in disgust at the 2004 laureate, whose writing he called "whinging, unenjoyable, violent pornography."

Apparently it took him 360-odd days to realise the depths of his feelings against Austrian Elfriede Jelinek.

Speaking of controversial decisions, the Booker Prize was announced yesterday. After shockingly failing to shortlist Ian McEwan's Saturday, the Booker committee also failed to award the prize to the other worthy contenders, namely Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go and Julian Barnes' Arthur and George.

John Banville's The Sea, the eventual winner after a tie-breaking decision by the committee chairman gave it the prize over Never Let Me Go, has been harshly criticised. Boyd Tonkin, literary editor of The Independent, has called awarding the Booker Prize to The Sea:

the worst, certainly the most perverse, and perhaps the most indefensible choice in the 36-year history of the contest.

Banville does have his supporters; if you are a fan, I recommend the lengthy interview with Banville on The Elegant Variation.