A versatile artist Alemayehu Demeke on Sheger Mezinagna

A versatile artist Alemayehu Demeke on Sheger Mezinagna. “I don’t think the acute situation right now in Europe and around the Mediterranean has affected this prize because the phenomenon of exile and migration has been there for many years,” Anders Olsson, chair of the Nobel Literature Committee, told reporters after the award was announced on Thursday. “But it is quite clear that his writings are extremely interesting and powerful right now in Europe and around the world,” Olsson added. “We are affected by what is happening in the world and it would be very strange otherwise.” 

The Nobel Committee is often criticized for the surprises it often came up with in the past when it chose its winners. It was also criticized for its alleged European bias in the choice of finalists. However, the Nobel committee that decides on the final winner are not people who share the same values, ideologies, or political inclinations. The committee is alleged to be composed of sometimes eccentric and at other times conservative members that make the final decision. This allegation sometimes looks well-founded if we go by records.

Authors who were expected to win the prize are sometimes ignored and a less known and less glorious candidate makes the finals. This year’s choice seems to corroborate this allegation. At some time in the past, some members or individuals sitting on the committee were said to never endorse someone they did not like personally. The late British novelist Graham Green was repeatedly expected to win the prize but it was alleged someone on the committee opposed his choice for some reason and was quoted as saying that “Mr. Green would win on his grave!”

To take a more recent example, British-Indian author Salman Rushdie was expected to win the prize more than 25 years ago at the time he published “The Satanic Verses”. Yet, the Nobel committee seemed too scared of the late Ayatollah Khomeini’s Fatwa that ordered the killing of the writer and the destruction of his book. Since then, the Nobel committee has ignored Rushdie while he has written so many remarkable novels. He was the victim of the curse of international politics and a Nobel committee that sometimes indulges in politics but fails to defend its principles, the principle of artistic freedom and political neutrality.