Swedish Academy names literature professor, Mats Malm, as new secretary
Previous secretary Sara Danius was forced to step down amid her husband Jean-Claude Arnault's #MeToo scandal.
By PTI |
Agencies
Mats Malm is a professor of literary theory at the University of Gothenburg.
STOCKHOLM: The Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Literature Prize, said Friday it had named a literature professor as its new permanent secretary, after a #MeToo scandal in late 2017 threw the institution into turmoil. Mats Malm is a professor of literary theory at the University of Gothenburg.
"I am very happy to be given this trust and look forward to the honourable commission as permanent secretary," he said.
Malm, 54, only joined the Academy four months ago.
He takes over from Anders Olsson - who has been serving as head of the Academy since June 2018 after the previous secretary, Sara Danius, was forced to step down amid a scandal sparked by Frenchman Jean-Claude Arnault, an influential figure on Stockholm's cultural scene. The 54-year-old Mats Malm had joined the Academy four months ago. Arnault, who is married to a then-member of the Academy who later resigned, was accused and later convicted of rape.
The 18-member Academy was split on how to handle its ties to Arnault.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ugly public disputes ensued, several members quit, and the body was in such disarray that it ended up postponing the 2018 Nobel Literature Prize for the first time in 70 years.
The Academy has said it plans to announce the winner of the 2018 award together with this year's winner.
#MeToo Hits 2018 Nobel Prize For Literature, No Award In 75 Years
1/2
Japanese author Kazuo Ishiguro won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2017. The man behind seven novels, a short-story collection and screenplays, Ishiguro was born in bomb-hit Nagasaki in 1954, and moved to England at the age of 5.
Japanese author Kazuo Ishiguro won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2017. The man behind seven novels, a short-story collection and screenplays, Ishiguro was born in bomb-hit Nagasaki in 1954, and m..
Read More
The physics prize was divided, one half awarded to Rainer Weiss (L), the other half jointly to Barry C. Barish (C) and Kip S. Thorne (R) "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves".
They received the prize for the discovery of gravitational waves released in the world by violent events in the universe such as the mergers of black holes. Weiss, professor emeritus of physics at MIT, along with Thorne and Barish, California Institute of Technology physicists, pioneered LIGO, or the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, the scientific project that made gravitational wave detection possible.
The physics prize was divided, one half awarded to Rainer Weiss (L), the other half jointly to Barry C. Barish (C) and Kip S. Thorne (R) "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the obser..
Swedish Academy keeps close watch on case against Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk for allegedly insulting Turkish leader
