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Prose and poetry

Read an excerpt from a book written by a Nobel Prize laureate in literature. Or choose a poem from an array of poetry excerpts. Pick a title!

Prose

Excerpt from The Other Name. Septology I-II by Jon Fosse, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2023
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Excerpts from Happening and Shame by Annie Ernaux, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2022
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Excerpts from By the Sea and The Last Gift by Abdulrazak Gurnah, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2021
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Excerpt from Repetition by Peter Handke, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2019
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Excerpt from Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2018
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Excerpt from Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2016
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Excerpt from Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2015
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Excerpt from The Search Warrant by Patrick Modiano, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2014
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In Sight of the Lake by Alice Munro, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2013
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Excerpt from The Garlic Ballads by Mo Yan, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2012
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Excerpt from The Storyteller by Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2010
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Excerpts from The Passport by Herta Müller, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2009
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Excerpts from Onitsha by Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2008
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Excerpt from The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2007

Excerpts from Istanbul: Memories of a City by Orhan Pamuk, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2006
Read the excerpts and watch Orhan Pamuk read

Excerpts from The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2004

Excerpts from Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2003

Excerpts from Fatelessness by Imre Kertész, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2002
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Excerpt from The Enigma of Arrival by V. S. Naipaul, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2001

Excerpt from One Man’s Bible by Gao Xingjian, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2000

Excerpt from The Tin Drum by Günter Grass, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1999

Excerpt from Baltasar and Blimunda by José Saramago, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1998

Excerpts from Mistero Buffo by Dario Fo, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1997

Excerpt from Prize Stock by Kenzaburo Oe, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1994

Excerpt from Sula by Toni Morrison, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1993

“Loot” by Nadine Gordimer, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1991
Read “Loot” and watch Nadine Gordimer read

“The Clerk’s Vision” by Octavio Paz, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1990

Excerpts from Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1988

Excerpt from Watermark by Joseph Brodsky, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1987

Excerpt from Aké. The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1986

Excerpt from One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1982

“The Appearance of the Sorcerer” by Elias Canetti, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1981

Excerpt from Herzog by Saul Bellow, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1976

Excerpt from The Clown by Heinrich Böll, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1972

“While the East Wind Blows” by Gracia Deledda, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1926

Poetry

Seven poems by Louise Glück, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2020
Read the poems and watch Louise Glück read

Five poems by Tomas Tranströmer, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2011

Five poems by Wislawa Szymborska, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1996

Three poems by Seamus Heaney, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1995

Two poems by Derek Walcott, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1992
Read “Sea Grapes” and “Fame” and watch Derek Walcott read

“Motion” by Octavio Paz, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1990

“Seven Strophes” by Joseph Brodsky, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1987

Four poems by Jaroslav Seifert, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1984

Four poems by Czeslaw Milosz, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1980

Excerpt from The Axion Esti by Odysseus Elytis, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1979

Ten poems by Harry Martinson, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1974

Four poems by Pablo Neruda, Nobel Prize laureate in literature 1971

To cite this section
MLA style: Prose and poetry. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2024. Tue. 5 Nov 2024. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lists/book-excerpts>