Thanks, but no thanks: Japanese author Haruki Murakami, a finalist for the “alternative Nobel Literature Prize”, has declined his nomination, telling organisers he wants to focus on work and avoid the spotlight.
The New Academy Prize in Literature was founded by more than 100 Swedish intellectuals in protest after the Swedish Academy, which selects Nobel laureates, postponed this year’s award during the peak of last year’s #MeToo wave over longstanding ties to a man accused of assaulting several women.
The New Academy said in a Facebook post on Saturday that Murakami, the author of Norwegian Wood and who’s often tipped for the Nobel Literature Prize, “expressed his gratitude at being nominated, writing ‘It… is a great honour for me’.”
“Murakami then said his preference is to concentrate on his writing, away from media attention, and asked that his nomination be withdrawn,” in an e-mail, the academy added.