This is insulting. The Nobel Prize is “fictional” too. While the article is discussing literature, let’s unpack “fictional” prizes: Yassir Arafat wins a peace prize relating to a war in which he was a primary beligerant. Obama wins the prize before he actually did anything — he won the prize for what he might do rather than for anything he did.

Douglas Prasher getting snubbed for the 2008 Prize in Chemistry while the other three who won that year won because of Prasher’s discovery!

Somorjai getting snubbed in 2007 despite his research partner winning.

Eyring didn’t win because he was a Mormon.

Fritz Haber helped developed poison gas used in World War I, yet he won in 1918, despite the entire raison d’être of Nobel’s mandate.

If we want to talk about Literature, more Swedes have won than the entirety of Asia! Talk about creating a “fictional prize” so that a particular nationality can have prizes too.

The Oscars do have merit and they don’t purport to be international. It’s the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, recognizing excellence in American film; they don’t claim to be an international award, yet Nobel — they explicitly are international oriented. You’re going to say Tolstoy and Mark Twain are less accomplished than Selma Lagerlöf? Really? James Joyce never won a Nobel but Frans Sillanpää did?

Come now.