English Section

Olga Tokarczuk attends 2024 Nobel Prize ceremony as special guest

11.12.2024 11:55
The Polish-born writer participated in the Nobel Prize award ceremony on December 10th in Stockholm, where the honors were presented to the laureates by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
Polish Nobel Prize-winning author Olga Tokarczuk.
Polish Nobel Prize-winning author Olga Tokarczuk.Photo: PAP/Adam Warżawa

Tokarczuk, who received the Nobel Prize in Literature five years ago, had the honor of attending the Nobel gala alongside four other laureates.

The Polish author sat on stage just behind this year's Nobel Prize winners, next to members of the Nobel committees and opposite the Swedish royal family.

The Nobel ceremony took place at the Stockholm Concert Hall, which was traditionally decorated with flowers donated by the Italian city of San Remo, where the prize's founder, Alfred Nobel, passed away on December 10, 1896.

The Nobel ceremony took place at the Stockholm Concert Hall. Olga Tokarczuk, as a special guest of the gala, sat next to the Nobel Prize laureates from previous years. The Nobel ceremony took place at the Stockholm Concert Hall. Olga Tokarczuk, as a special guest of the gala, sat next to the Nobel Prize laureates from previous years (photo: Nobel Prize)

This year, in addition to diplomats from countries whose citizens were honored with the Nobel Prize and representatives from Norway, only the longest-serving ambassador was invited, who, this time, is the representative of Hungary.

In the past, inviting diplomats from countries with authoritarian regimes, such as Russia or Iran, sparked controversy, as noted by the Polish state news agency PAP.

The Polish Nobel laureate had the opportunity to meet in person with this year's winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, South Korean author Han Kang, who gained international recognition, among other works, for her novel The Vegetarian.

2024 Nobel laureate in Literature Han Kang (L) talks to 2018 Nobel laureate in Literature Olga Tokarczuk (R) after the Nobel Prize 2024 award ceremony at the Concert Hall in Stockholm, Sweden, 10 December 2024 (photo: HENRIK MONTGOMERY SWEDEN OUT/PAP/EPA) 2024 Nobel laureate in Literature Han Kang (L) talks to 2018 Nobel laureate in Literature Olga Tokarczuk (R) after the Nobel Prize 2024 award ceremony at the Concert Hall in Stockholm, Sweden, 10 December 2024 (photo: HENRIK MONTGOMERY SWEDEN OUT/PAP/EPA)

Earlier, Olga Tokarczuk participated in a panel discussion as part of the Nobel Week Dialogue, alongside 2023 Nobel laureate in Medicine Drew Weissman and Paralympian Anna Beck, to discuss the topic of health and its broad interpretations.

Olga Tokarczuk is the third woman born in Poland to receive the Nobel Prize, writing in Polish.

Poland is also the homeland of Wisława Szymborska, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996, and Marie Curie, the first woman to be awarded a Nobel in science.

She received the Nobel twice: in 1903 for physics and in 1911 for chemistry, when she personally accepted her second award despite being ill. 

5 lat temu Olga Tokarczuk odebrała w Sztokholmie Nagrodę Nobla w dziedzinie literatury i wygłosiła swoją poruszającą...

Opublikowany przez NIE dla chaosu w szkole Wtorek, 10 grudnia 2024

A full report on this year's Nobel Prize ceremony can be followed through the material posted on YouTube.

Source: PAP/Nobel Prize/FB/NIE dla chaosu w szkole

(m p)