It may be literature’s greatest honor, but the Nobel Prize has sometimes drawn negative attention to writers as well as praise.
Bob Dylan
Some critics claim the 2016 Nobel winner was undeserving because his songs contain unattributed work from others.
Harold Pinter
The English playwright was slammed for his left-wing politics and sometimes scatological point of view.
Elfriede Jelinek
One Nobel member was so upset about the consideration given to this “chaotic and pornographic” Austrian writer that he refused to participate in the deliberations.
Herta Muller
The German novelist’s win failed to impress Entertainment Weekly, which called her “another obscure Nobel Prize literature winner.”
Mario Vargas Llosa
The Peruvian writer has made more than a few enemies for his outspoken political views, especially concerning Latin American governments.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
No surprise here — the dissident writer made no fans among the Soviet leaders he relentlessly criticized.
Dario Fo
The Italian writer made fun of the Catholic Church, which was not amused; when he won the Nobel, a Vatican newspaper called him the author of “questionable works.”
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