Protests over Nobel Prize on the streets

AN INTERNAL fight among members of the academy that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature is spilling on to the streets of Sweden.

Outrage is growing after a sexabuse scandal linked to the body resulted in the ousting of the woman who ran it.

The internal feud at the prestigious Swedish institution has already reached the top levels of public life in the Scandinavian nation known for its promotion of gender equality, with the prime minister, the king and the Nobel board weighing in.

Last night people rallied on Stockholm’s Stortorget square outside the headquarters of the Swedish Academy, which has awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature since 1901, to demand all of its members resign.

Parallel demonstrations are planned in Gothenburg, Helsingborg, Eskilstuna, Vasteras, and Borgholm. The protests have grown out of what began as Sweden’s #MeToo moment in November when the country saw thousands of sexual misconduct allegations surfacing from all walks of life.

It hit the academy when 18 women came forward with accusations against Jean-Claude Arnault, a major cultural figure in Sweden who is married to Katarina Frostenson, a poet who is a member of the academy. Police are investigating the allegations, which Mr Arnault denies.

But the case has exposed bitter divisions within the academy. That turmoil started when some of the committee’s 18 members pushed for the removal of Ms Frostenson after the allegations were levied against her husband, who runs a cultural club that has received money from the academy.