The final results of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced at 7 p.m. Beijing time on October 10. As in previous years, on the eve of the award, major gaming companies in Europe and the United States have launched a list of Nobel Prize in Literature odds, among which Chinese writer Yan Xue topped the list of bookmakers Ladbrokes and is considered to be the favorite to win the award.
Rean Xue, female, whose real name is Deng Xiaohua, was born in Changsha in 1953. In 1985, she began to publish novels, and has created more than 7 million words of works, including "Huangni Street", "The Cottage on the Mountain", "The Last Lover" and so on. She has been hailed by the United States and Japan literary circles as one of the most creative writers in Chinese literature since the mid-20th century. Last year, the Sweden version of Yan Xue's novel "Love Story in the New Century" was published in Sweden (the country where the Nobel Prize was born), attracting many readers and being reported by many Sweden media. The translator of this book is the famous Sweden translator Anna Chen, and the Sweden translation of Mo Yan's main works was completed by her. With "New Century Love Story" and the short story collection "The World of Remnant Snow", Remnant Xue has twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Nobel Prize for Literature judge Mika Ela · Brumquist wrote a review for "New Century Love Story," praising Remnant Xue for writing in a "leafy and complex way": "Here men and women find romance in a dreamer's world, where the dreamer's improved reality is the only eternal thing." ”
"The competition for this year's Nobel Prize is still fierce and we have a lot of interest in Gerald Murnane ·· César Aira, but Remnant Xue is still the most popular candidate among bettors and has been leading the way in betting," United Kingdom said Alex Apati, spokesman for bookmaker Ladbrokes, who topped the odds list for this year's Ladbrokes for the second year in a row, Japan author Haruki Murakami, Canada writer Mar·garet Atwood, United States writer Thomas Ruggles · · Pynchon, and Canada poet Anne Carson · others also top the list.
Screenshot of the Ladbrokes website
Despite missing the Nobel Prize many times, Haruki Murakami (1949-) has been regarded as a popular candidate for the award for many years, and has a large number of fans in China. Since 1989, Lin Shaohua has translated 42 works of Haruki Murakami, including his masterpieces "Forest in Norway", "1Q84", "Kafka by the Sea", and "Assassination of the Knight Commander" published in the past two years. In 2001, more than 470,000 copies of Norway's Forests were printed. By 2017, the Shanghai Translation had published 42 of Murakami's works, with a total print run of more than 8.5 million copies. Last year, Haruki Murakami released a new novel, "The Wall of Small Town and Uncertainty" (街とその不確かなwall), which is scheduled to be published in Chinese in October this year, translated by Shi Xiaowei.
Margaret · Atwood (1939—) is known as the "Queen of Canada Literature", and her prolific writing, including novels, poetry, and criticism, has won a series of important literary awards such as the Booker Prize, and is no stranger to Chinese readers. Since the 80s of the 20th century, her "The Handmaid's Tale", "Alias Grace", "Blind Assassin" and so on have begun to enter the Chinese translation. Among them, "The Handmaid's Tale" has once again gained public attention since it was adapted into an American drama in 2017, and in recent years, many of her works have been published or republished in China. In 2019, the 80-year-old Atwood launched the sequel "Testimony" to "The Handmaid's Tale", which continues the main line of women's issues and dystopia, reflecting her concern for public issues.
Thomas · Pynchon (1937—) is a representative writer of United States postmodernist literature, known for his complex narrative structures, esoteric themes, and numerous cultural, technological, and historical references. Although his writing style is obscure, with many characters and jumping plots, he is also popular with readers for his profound revelation of the chaos and confusion of modern society. His works such as "The Rainbow of Gravity" and "Deadly Tip" have been introduced into Chinese for publication.
Anne Carson (1950- ·) is regarded as the most important living poet in English literature, and Harold · Bloom once called him "one of the living geniuses", comparable to Emily · Brontë and Emily · Dickinson. Anne · Carson studied the poet Sappho during her Ph.D., and the results of her research were later compiled and published by her as The Bittersweet Sweetness of Eros. She is the contemporary translator of Sappho's fragments, considered the most accomplished poet of contemporary classical accomplishments, and at the same time active in the art world and the theater stage as a cross-border artist. Nature, theology, (fluid) gender, eros, boundaries, life and death, these are a few common themes in Anne · Carson's poetry. In China, the Chinese editions of his works "Red's Autobiography· The Beauty of Husband" and "Annie · Carson Anthology" have been published.
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There are also some relatively unfamiliar names on the hot list of some betting odds lists. For example Greece writer Ersi Sotiropoulos (1953—·). Her novel Through the Bitter Orange Tree was the first in Greece to win both the National Book Award and the Book Critics Award, and the novel The Remaining Night won the Eastern Mediterranean Prize. In China, Sotiroboulou's works have not yet been translated and published.
Romania poets Mir·cea Cartarescu (1956—) are also relatively niche for Chinese readers. As of 2021, his only Chinese translation is "The Girl on the Edge of Life", but in Eastern Europe, Catarescu is actually a skilled novelist, poet, essayist and literary critic, whose work delves into the inner world of Romania, and as the most representative writer in Romania today, he is called a "explorer of curious, passionate, imaginative beings".
Australia Aboriginal writer Alexis Wright (1950—) also appears at the top ·of the list. Her work focuses on Aboriginal rights in Australia, tells stories belonging to Aboriginal people in Australia, and her "Carpentalia Bay", "Swan Book" and "Odyssey on the Horizon" have all been published in Chinese translations. It is worth mentioning that Alexis · Wright also has some Chinese ancestry - her great-grandfather is from Guangdong, China. In order to understand the Chinese side of himself, Alexis Wright · even came to China to seek his roots.
What is the relationship between the odds list set by the bookmaker and the final Nobel Prize winner? There is also a lot of discussion online. In recent years, on the eve of the announcement of the Nobel Prize in Literature, some gaming companies will set up a special team, who is both a literature lover and an actuary, and combines the judges' preferences, the quality of the works, the public's attention and other factors to formulate the Nobel Prize odds list for the year. The setting of the odds list, as a folk act, represents only a prediction, which has nothing to do with the selection process of the Nobel Prize judges, but is also regarded as a reference, such as last year's Nobel laureate Jon· Fosse ranked high on some odds lists. Of course, it is unknown who will win the award until it is revealed.
Source: The Paper
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