The Nobel Prize in literature will not be awarded this year following sex-abuse allegations and other issues that have affected the public image of the Swedish Academy that selects the winner.

The academy said Friday the 2018 prize will be given in 2019. The decision was made at a weekly meeting in Stockholm a day earlier, on the grounds that the academy is in no shape to pick a winner after a string of sex abuse allegations and financial crimes scandals.

B次元官网网址淲e find it necessary to commit time to recovering public confidence in the Academy before the next laureate can be announced,B次元官网网址� Anders Olsson, the academyB次元官网网址檚 permanent secretary, said in a statement. He said the academy was acting B次元官网网址渙ut of respect for previous and future literature laureates, the Nobel Foundation and the general public.B次元官网网址�

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It will be the first time since 1949 that the prestigious award has been delayed. Last year, Japanese-born British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro won the prize.

The internal feud within the Swedish Academy B次元官网网址� which only hands out one of the six Nobel prizes B次元官网网址� was triggered by an abuse scandal linked to Jean-Claude Arnault, a major cultural figure in Sweden who is also the husband of poet Katarina Frostenson, an academy member.

The academy later admitted in a report that B次元官网网址渦nacceptable behaviour in the form of unwanted intimacyB次元官网网址� took place within its ranks, but its handling of the allegations shredded the bodyB次元官网网址檚 credibility, called into question its judgment and forced its first female leader to resign.

A debate over how to face up to its flaws also divided its 18 members B次元官网网址� who are appointed for life B次元官网网址� into hostile camps and prompted seven members of the prestigious institution to leave or disassociate themselves from the secretive group.

At this weekB次元官网网址檚 meeting, members agreed to review the academyB次元官网网址檚 operating practices, according to a statement released by the body.

The academy said that B次元官网网址渨ork on the selection of a laureate is at an advanced stage and will continue as usual in the months ahead but the Academy needs time to regain its full complement.B次元官网网址�

The Nobel Foundation reacted promptly, saying it presumes that the academy B次元官网网址渨ill now put all its efforts into the task of restoring its credibility as a prize-awarding institution and that the Academy will report the concrete actions that are undertaken.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淲e also assume that all members of the Academy realize that both its extensive reform efforts and its future organizational structure must be characterized by greater openness toward the outside world,B次元官网网址� Carl-Henrik Heldin, the chairman of the Nobel Foundation Board said in a separate statement.

King Carl XVI Gustaf B次元官网网址� the bodyB次元官网网址檚 patron who had earlier suggested changes within the institution after members began to leave B次元官网网址� said the decision B次元官网网址渟hows that the Academy now intends to focus on the restoration of its reputation.B次元官网网址�

Last fall, Dagens Nyheter, one of SwedenB次元官网网址檚 largest newspapers, published sexual misconduct claims from 18 women against Arnault, who runs a cultural centre the academy used to help fund.

Arnault also has been suspected of violating century-old Nobel rules by leaking names of winners of the prestigious award B次元官网网址� allegedly seven times, starting in 1996. It was not clear to whom the names were allegedly disclosed.

Bjorn Hurtig, the lawyer for the 71-year-old Arnault, has denied the allegations, telling The Associated Press that his client is the victim of B次元官网网址渁 witch huntB次元官网网址� and the claims B次元官网网址渕ay only have the purpose of harmingB次元官网网址� him.

The worldB次元官网网址檚 most prestigious prizes in science, medicine, literature and peacemaking have been withheld 49 times in all since the honours based on the will of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel began in 1901.

The Nobel literature prize was not given out on seven occasions, primarily due to war but in 1935 because no candidate was deemed worthy of the prize. On a further seven occasions, the award has been postponed, as is proposed in this case.

Swedish Academy member Goran Malmqvist told SwedenB次元官网网址檚 TT news agency that the postponement was B次元官网网址渁 really good decision.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e in a crisis and it will take time to rebuild it again,B次元官网网址� he was quoted as saying. He said the academy must be more open to the media, but at the same time not leak the name of the winner.

B次元官网网址淲e have to shut up. People mustnB次元官网网址檛 start betting and make money on that,B次元官网网址� he told TT.

The Associated Press

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