Nobel Prize in Literature: Literary Giants

Question 1

Question 1 : Which French writer received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2022?

Possible answers:

Leïla Slimani
Annie Ernaux
Amélie Nothomb
Marie NDiaye

Answer

Annie Ernaux was awarded for "the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory".

Question 2

Question 2 : Which American author received the Nobel in 1954 for "The Old Man and the Sea"?

Possible answers:

Ernest Hemingway
William Faulkner
John Steinbeck
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Answer

Ernest Hemingway received the Nobel for "his mastery of the art of narrative and the influence he has exerted on contemporary style". "The Old Man and the Sea" was his last major success.

Question 3

Question 3 : Which Colombian writer, author of "One Hundred Years of Solitude", received the Nobel in 1982?

Possible answers:

Pablo Neruda
Jorge Luis Borges
Mario Vargas Llosa
Gabriel García Márquez

Answer

Gabriel García Márquez is the master of magical realism. His masterpiece "One Hundred Years of Solitude" has sold over 50 million copies.

Question 4

Question 4 : Which American singer and author surprised the world by receiving the Nobel in 2016?

Possible answers:

Bob Dylan
Leonard Cohen
Paul Simon
Bruce Springsteen

Answer

Bob Dylan received the Nobel "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition". A first for a musician.

Question 5

Question 5 : Which French author received the Nobel in 1957 for "The Stranger" and "The Plague"?

Possible answers:

Albert Camus
François Mauriac
Jean-Paul Sartre
André Gide

Answer

Albert Camus received the Nobel at 44, the second youngest laureate. He died three years later in a car accident.

Question 6

Question 6 : Which French philosopher refused the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964?

Possible answers:

Simone de Beauvoir
Albert Camus
Michel Foucault
Jean-Paul Sartre

Answer

Jean-Paul Sartre declined the prize, refusing "all official honors". He is the only laureate to have voluntarily refused the Nobel.

Question 7

Question 7 : In what year was the first Nobel Prize in Literature awarded?

Possible answers:

1895
1901
1910
1920

Answer

The first Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded in 1901 to French poet Sully Prudhomme, in accordance with Alfred Nobel's will.

Question 8

Question 8 : Which British novelist received the Nobel in 2007 for "The Golden Notebook"?

Possible answers:

Margaret Atwood
Doris Lessing
Agatha Christie
Virginia Woolf

Answer

Doris Lessing received the Nobel at 88, becoming the oldest laureate. She was awarded for her critical view of a divided civilization.

Question 9

Question 9 : Which Japanese author received the Nobel in 1968, the first Japanese to be honored?

Possible answers:

Yasunari Kawabata
Kenzaburo Oe
Haruki Murakami
Yukio Mishima

Answer

Yasunari Kawabata was the first Japanese to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, celebrated for his prose that expresses the essence of the Japanese soul.

Question 10

Question 10 : Which Irish playwright, author of "Waiting for Godot", received the Nobel in 1969?

Possible answers:

James Joyce
Oscar Wilde
George Bernard Shaw
Samuel Beckett

Answer

Samuel Beckett received the Nobel for work that "has given the novel and drama new forms". He wrote in both French and English.

Question 11

Question 11 : Which Peruvian novelist received the Nobel in 2010 for "The Time of the Hero"?

Possible answers:

Julio Cortázar
Gabriel García Márquez
Carlos Fuentes
Mario Vargas Llosa

Answer

Mario Vargas Llosa was awarded for "his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat".

Question 12

Question 12 : Which British writer of Indian origin received the Nobel in 2001?

Possible answers:

Vikram Seth
V.S. Naipaul
Salman Rushdie
Arundhati Roy

Answer

V.S. Naipaul was awarded for "having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny". He was born in Trinidad to Indian parents.

Question 13

Question 13 : Which African-American novelist received the Nobel in 1993 for "Beloved"?

Possible answers:

Zora Neale Hurston
Maya Angelou
Toni Morrison
Alice Walker

Answer

Toni Morrison was the first African-American woman to receive the Nobel. "Beloved" tells the story of a runaway slave.

Question 14

Question 14 : Which country has produced the most Nobel Prize in Literature laureates?

Possible answers:

United States
United Kingdom
France
Germany

Answer

France has the most Nobel Prizes in Literature with 16 laureates, ahead of the United States (13) and the United Kingdom (12).

Question 15

Question 15 : Which Chinese writer received the Nobel in 2012 for his hallucinatory realism?

Possible answers:

Yu Hua
Mo Yan
Liu Cixin
Gao Xingjian

Answer

Mo Yan was the first Chinese author residing in China to receive the Nobel. His pen name means "Don't speak" in Chinese.

Question 16

Question 16 : Which Italian playwright received the Nobel in 1997 for his satirical plays?

Possible answers:

Italo Calvino
Umberto Eco
Dario Fo
Luigi Pirandello

Answer

Dario Fo was awarded for works that "emulate the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden".

Question 17

Question 17 : Which Turkish writer received the Nobel in 2006 for "My Name Is Red"?

Possible answers:

Orhan Pamuk
Nazim Hikmet
Elif Shafak
Yasar Kemal

Answer

Orhan Pamuk was the first Turk to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded for having "discovered new symbols for the clash of cultures".

Question 18

Question 18 : Which Chilean poet received the Nobel in 1971 for his politically engaged poetry?

Possible answers:

Octavio Paz
Jorge Luis Borges
César Vallejo
Pablo Neruda

Answer

Pablo Neruda, diplomat and communist senator, received the Nobel for "poetry that with the action of an elemental force brings alive a continent's destiny and dreams".

Question 19

Question 19 : Which Belarusian novelist received the Nobel in 2015 for her documentary works?

Possible answers:

Elfriede Jelinek
Svetlana Alexievitch
Olga Tokarczuk
Herta Müller

Answer

Svetlana Alexievich was awarded for "her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time".

Question 20

Question 20 : Which British writer of Kazakh origin received the Nobel in 2017?

Possible answers:

Julian Barnes
Ian McEwan
Kazuo Ishiguro
Salman Rushdie

Answer

Kazuo Ishiguro, born in Japan and raised in England, was awarded for novels "of great emotional force" that reveal "the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world".

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The 20 quiz questions

Question 1 : Which French writer received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2022?

Question 2 : Which American author received the Nobel in 1954 for "The Old Man and the Sea"?

Question 3 : Which Colombian writer, author of "One Hundred Years of Solitude", received the Nobel in 1982?

Question 4 : Which American singer and author surprised the world by receiving the Nobel in 2016?

Question 5 : Which French author received the Nobel in 1957 for "The Stranger" and "The Plague"?

Question 6 : Which French philosopher refused the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964?

Question 7 : In what year was the first Nobel Prize in Literature awarded?

Question 8 : Which British novelist received the Nobel in 2007 for "The Golden Notebook"?

Question 9 : Which Japanese author received the Nobel in 1968, the first Japanese to be honored?

Question 10 : Which Irish playwright, author of "Waiting for Godot", received the Nobel in 1969?

Question 11 : Which Peruvian novelist received the Nobel in 2010 for "The Time of the Hero"?

Question 12 : Which British writer of Indian origin received the Nobel in 2001?

Question 13 : Which African-American novelist received the Nobel in 1993 for "Beloved"?

Question 14 : Which country has produced the most Nobel Prize in Literature laureates?

Question 15 : Which Chinese writer received the Nobel in 2012 for his hallucinatory realism?

Question 16 : Which Italian playwright received the Nobel in 1997 for his satirical plays?

Question 17 : Which Turkish writer received the Nobel in 2006 for "My Name Is Red"?

Question 18 : Which Chilean poet received the Nobel in 1971 for his politically engaged poetry?

Question 19 : Which Belarusian novelist received the Nobel in 2015 for her documentary works?

Question 20 : Which British writer of Kazakh origin received the Nobel in 2017?

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