Swedish sex scandal delays Nobel Prize

PARIS • There will be no Nobel Prize in literature this year for the first time in almost 70 years, the Swedish Academy announced Friday, as the body scrambled to avoid implosion over a spiralling sexual misconduct scandal. Instead, two prizes will be announced in 2019.

“We find it necessary to commit time to recovering public confidence in the academy before the next laureate can be announced,” said Anders Olsson, the body’s interim permanent secretary.

The crisis began in November when Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter published the testimonies of 18 women claiming to have been raped, sexually assaulted or harassed by an influential Frenchman with ties to the academy.

Jean-Claude Arnault, the husband of Katarina Frostenson, an academy member and poet, has denied the allegations, which surfaced in the wake of the global #MeToo campaign.

The academy faces allegations of a conflict of interest for subsidizing Arnault’s cultural centre in Stockholm, which he owned with his wife. The Swedish Economic Crimes Bureau last week said it was investigating a case linked to the academy, thought to be related to this matter.

Arnault has also been suspected of leaking the names of prize winners — allegedly seven times, starting in 1996.

Disagreements on how to handle the scandal sparked deep rifts among the 18-member academy. One side, led by Sara Danius — its first female permanent secretary — urged reform, while the other defended Frostenson. Six members, including Danius and Frostenson, have resigned in recent weeks over the row.

“The active members of the Swedish Academy are of course fully aware that the present crisis of confidence places high demands on a long-term and robust work for change,” Olsson said.

Founded in 1786, the normally discreet and secretive body has been the scene of unprecedented public spats.

Horace Engdahl, one of its members, called Danius “the worst” permanent secretary in the academy’s history, but she enjoys wide support in Sweden. Annie Loof, leader of the Swedish Centre party, wrote on Twitter: “The strong woman who tried to clean up the Swedish Academy was forced to leave. I’m speechless.”

Prosecutors said in mid-March that they had dropped parts of an investigation into claims of rape and assault involving Arnault between 2013 and 2015, due to lack of evidence. Another preliminary investigation continues.

The last time the Swedish Academy postponed a prize announcement was in 1949, when novelist William Faulkner received his a year late.