The recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2026 is set to be announced today, 8 October 2026, around midday in the UK. The announcement is a highly anticipated event in the literary calendar.
Canadian poet Anne Carson and Chinese experimental writer Can Xue are currently the bookmakers' joint favourites to win, with Ladbrokes listing their odds at 10/1 each. Can Xue, 73, is known for her experimental prose and dreamlike style, and has been longlisted twice for the International Booker Prize.
Other writers with shorter odds include Haruki Murakami (14/1), Gerald Murnane (16/1), and Thomas Pynchon (16/1). Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, and Jamaica Kincaid are listed at longer odds.
Last year, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to László Krasznahorkai, a 72-year-old Hungarian novelist. He was recognised for his "compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art."