The stars are aligned for Can Xue, believes cultural journalist Jenny Aschenbrenner.
It is said that when a Chinese author has been awarded the prize, it has always been in the Dragon year according to Chinese astrology.
But it's not just because of that I believe it's time for Xue this year. Also because she is perfectly stubborn with her enigmatic and radical prose, which is not loved by the Chinese regime.
After Glück, Gurnah, Ernaux, and Fosse, the Academy might choose a non-European woman, believes Sara Meidell, author and cultural editor at Västerbottens-Kuriren.
In that case, the names that are circulating in the betting talk are Can Xue or Yoko Ogawa. Maybe they'll snatch Margaret Atwood, but there, the relatively broad Fosse and Ernaux have paved the way for a narrower choice.
Rumors about a Chinese author
Author Lyra Ekström Lindbäck has calculated the statistics, but is tipping with her gut feeling.
Even if the rumor says it will be a Chinese author – the betting sites are convinced it's Can Xue – while statistically it might be a Spanish-speaking author, my gut feeling is leaning towards the Russian Ljudmila Ulitskaja.
Her seemingly traditional epic reinvents a new form for social critique, precisely by letting her characters emerge as ambiguous people, who even remain partially elusive in their own narrative.
Ida Stiller, acting editor-in-chief at Länstidningen Östersund, is also promoting Can Xue as a likely candidate.
But I believe even more in the Syrian poet Adonis. He has previously been a favorite to win many years in a row, but in recent years, he has rarely topped the betting lists.
Hoping for Kincaid
Author and cultural journalist Alba Mogensen believes – and above all hopes – that it will be Jamaica Kincaid.
There is no one who has written as clearly, poetically, multifaceted, and at the same time easily accessible about colonialism and its impact on people. "Lucy" is a small, yet great, masterpiece.
Author Agri Ismail is betting on Australian Gerald Murnane – long unknown, but in recent years both cult-declared and hailed as one of the most original authors in the English-speaking world.
Partly because he gave a rare interview earlier this year to show that he's still alive. But mainly because it's really ambitious literature from a part of the world whose literature has become one of the most interesting thanks to him.
The Nobel Prize will be announced on Thursday.
Mattias Timander, author and cultural writer, always returns to the same favorite.
I'm tipping and hoping for Nina Bouraoui. She has a unique, beautiful style that she uses to explore both the euphoric and existential darkness.
Literary magazine editor Saga Wallander both believes and hopes for Anne Carson.
But it also feels like it could be Salman Rushdie.
Poet Olivia Bergdahl is keeping her fingers crossed for French author Éric Vuillard.
He has an incredibly intelligent way of writing about historical events and makes history present. He has written about the storming of the Bastille and in the spring, a new book about Buffalo Bill will be published.
2023, Jon Fosse, Norway
2022, Annie Ernaux, France.
2021, Abdulrazak Gurnah, UK/Zanzibar
2020, Louise Glück, USA.
2019, Peter Handke, Austria.
2018, Olga Tokarczuk, Poland.
2017, Kazuo Ishiguro, UK/Japan.
2016, Bob Dylan, USA.
2015 Svetlana Aleksijevitj, Belarus.
2014 Patrick Modiano, France.
