Nobel literature judge says award committee has been ‘too Eurocentric’

Nobel literature judge: award ‘too Eurocentric’

STOCKHOLM — The new frontman of the Nobel literature prize jury believes the secretive panel has been too “Eurocentric” in picking winners and says there are plenty of American writers who would qualify for the award.

Peter Englund’s comments Tuesday come two days before the prize announcement. They contrast with his predecessor’s view that U.S. literature is too insular.

Englund told The Associated Press that because award judges in the Swedish Academy are European they tend to a “European outlook” on literature. Europeans have dominated the literature awards in recent decades and won nine of the last 10.

Englund, who replaced Horace Engdahl as the Swedish Academy’s permanent secretary in June, said “I think that is a problem.”