Nobel judges accused of anti-US bias
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France's Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio won this year's Nobel Literature Prize. (AFP: Jessica Gow)
The selection of a French writer as the winner of this year's Nobel Literature Prize has further stirred the pot over claims that the Swedish Academy has an anti-American bias.
French writer Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio won the prestigious prize for his body of work, described by the judges as "poetic adventure" and "sensual".
The list of nominees is always a tightly-guarded secret and that usually feeds much speculation about the winner.
This year was no exception. Many observers did tip Le Clezio. And when the Swedish Academy emerged to make the much-awaited announcement it proved them right.
Speaking before the announcement, Le Clezio said any author would be delighted to win the prize.
"As with any literature prize, it represents time; it gives you time. It's something that revives you. It gives you the desire to continue to write," he said.
'Nomadic writer'
Le Clezio wrote his first novel at the age of 23. The 68-year-old is now the author of around 30 books.
One of his better known works is Desert, which the Swedish Academy describes as containing "magnificent images of a lost culture in the north African desert."
His novels often deal with globalisation and the environment.
Many of his works are set outside of France in some of the many destinations to which he has travelled. In the 1970s he spent several years living with an Indian population in Panama.
"I think he is very special - First, because he is a writer that transcends the borderlines of national cultures," Swedish Academy president Horace Engdahl said.
"He's been living in Central America and Mexico, in the Indian Ocean. He is not a typical French writer. He is more of a cosmopolitan, more of a nomadic writer."
Bias accusations
Mr Engdahl also answered questions about anti-American bias in the Swedish Academy at last night's ceremony.
In an interview just before the announcement, Mr Engdahl said American writers were too influenced by their own pop culture to be able rival Europe as the centre of the literary world.
"You must remember that all this fuss has been as a result of a certain interview that came after the real discussion and the real decision by the Academy, so it has nothing to do with that really," Mr Engdahl said.
When asked how he thought the choice of Le Clezio would be viewed in the States, Mr Engdahl said he did not think it would give rise to any anti-French sentiment.
But there's no doubt there will be discussion of the Academy's record. Since 1995, the Nobel Literature Prize has mostly been awarded to Europeans.
Only three American writers have won it in the last 30 years.
Adapted from an AM report by Sara Everingham
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