In the past few years these contests often lacked winners, so I’m increasing your chances this year by eliminating the sciences and economics from the guesses (two science prizes have already been awarded). The Nobel Prize for Literature will be announced Thursday, October 8, and the Peace Prize on the next day. I’m asking you to guess the winners of both, to wit:
Guess the names of the winners of the Nobel Prizes for Literature and for Peace
Here are the Roolz:
a.) One guess per person in each category. If you name more than one person or group for each prize, your vote will be summarily discarded.
b.) Remember that organizations can be awarded the Peace Prize.
c.) To win, you must guess both correctly. But since the Literature Prize is almost never guessed correctly, if nobody gets both I will name as winner the first person to correctly guesses either of the two winners. If there are ties, the first guesser wins.
d.) DEADLINE: Wednesday, October 7 (tomorrow) at 5 p.m. Chicago time.
THE PRIZE: A mint paperback copy of either WEIT or Faith Versus Fact, autographed by the author and with a cat drawn in it to your specifications. (There is some flexibility here if you prefer another animals, but remember that I’m not an artist.) Since I cannot mail books internationally, they will be sent to a U.S. address of your choosing.
Note: if there are fewer than 20 people guessing, the contest is null and void due to lack of interest.
Salman Rushdie should win the lit prize, but we all know why he won’t. So I vote for Thomas Pynchon.
As for the Peace prize? Trump of course…. Just kidding!! I don’t really know who’s in the running for this prize, so I’ll just take a wild guess: The Pope.
Can Xue for Literature
and
Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms for Peace
I’m so not connected to the literary world that I cannot possibly even guess.
Peace? What peace? As for the Peace prize, maybe one of the Israel-haters. They’re always in fashion. How about Secretary General of the United Nations António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres?
As for my prize, which paperback do I want? (I’ll give it to one of my nieces or nephews.) Probably Faith Versus Fact, which is the more general book. Please, for the cat drawing, I don’t want a chonky cat. I’m thinking of something more svelte. Thank you.
Peace – Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms
Literature – Gerald Murnane
Literature – Lyudmila Ulitskaya
Peace – I’ve no idea. Probably some anti-Israel org, as Norman already guessed.
Can Xue
Save Ukraine
I am proud to not have won this contest :
I did not win when I named Roger Penrose.
I have no inkling, but might as well take a shot for a chance at a signed book!
Literature: Mircea Cărtărescu (turned up on a number of online lists)
Peace: International Space Station (a sentimental favorite for me)
ISS — that’s a nice idea, showing international cooperation continuing even while the leading nations are effectively boycotting each other.
Wow Robie never occurred to me but yes, year in and year out, Station has stood out as a beacon of international cooperation.
For Peace Prize: NASA-ROSCOSMOS-ISS
Here’s to two more guesses that won’t win me a book!
Lit: Gerald Murnane (only because it’s been over 50 years since an Aussie won and they only have one). I doubt rarity of Nobels has any bearing on the matter.
Peace: Mark Carney just because it’s the first person that came to mind and it would be a fun Trump snub. Plus he has a nice name.
Lit: Haruki Murakami because he wrote a book with talking cats.
Peace: The Citizen Collective of the ‘Light Revolution’ described by Wikipedia as “through disciplined, large-scale, and nonviolent civic resistance, the movement played a decisive role in defending constitutional democracy against martial law, protecting fundamental human rights, and preventing the escalation of political crisis into widespread violence.”
I second the view that it should be Salman Rushdie, but my follow up is Brit Julian Barnes.
For Peace I’m clueless but the work to end the Ebola outbreak in War ravaged Congo would be well deserved though which organisation to single out I don’t know.
Others have already selected my first choice for both the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Nobel Peace Prize. The first person to choose correctly wins the prize, so if my first choices received the Nobel Prize, I would not be able to win.
I predict that Anne Carson will win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and that Save the Children will win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Others have already selected my second and third choices as well. Perhaps the candidates which I have selected will win the Nobel Prize, however.
You are the first to guess the literature recipient. Unless there is an earlier vote that correctly designates the peace prize awarded tomorrow, you are the winner.
Thank you so much! I am delighted to learn that I might be the winner.
I would’ve mentioned Murakami or Pynchon but they’re already on the list. So let’s go with Margaret Atwood.
To make things complete, the peace prize should go to Obama again. For fun ;).
But my vote goes to Masih Alinejad. I’d like to see her win some day.
Peace – Francesca Albanese
Literature – Enrique Vila-Matas
My hat now firmly rests within the ring.
I have no basis for a guess for either of these, but given where the
Literature: I have nothing….
Peace: Jared Kushner for peace. Maybe the commitee has a sick sense of humour…
Since I can’t even wild guess lit, I’ll add
Economics: Christine Lagarde (EU bank) for her past work developing the economies of tax havens, prior to leading the IMF, and now ECB. An interesting symmetry, here
For peace: International Justice Institutions
For literature: Amitav Ghosh
Can Xue for Literature
Yulia Navalyaya for Peace
Can Xue for Literature
The Pope for Peace
Realizing that ‘prediction is hard, especially of the future,’ I vote for:
Literature: George Saunders
Peace: Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Literature: Salman Rushdie
Peace: Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms
Contest is now closed.