Nobel Prize in Literature winners quiz (50 questions)
Books can change how a whole country sees itself. Match the writer to the book, the country and the reason they were honoured.
About this quiz: the people, prizes and dates were checked against official and reference sources, and the stories are retold in makekite's own words with the help of AI. If you spot a mistake, please tell us on the contact page.
50 multiple-choice questions, with the answer explained after each one.
Answer each question, see why, and beat your best score.
All 50 questions and answers
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- Rabindranath Tagore, born in Calcutta, became the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. Which of his poetry collections is best known in English?
- Anandamath
- Devdas
- Gitanjali
- Godan
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Gitanjali. Tagore was first of all a poet, and he also became a spokesperson for Indian independence from British colonial rule. The prize recognised his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse.
- Selma Lagerlöf of Sweden won in 1909. Which of her stories follows a boy who travels across Sweden on the back of a goose?
- Heidi
- Pippi Longstocking
- The Wonderful Adventures of Nils
- The Little Mermaid
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The Wonderful Adventures of Nils. She was honoured for the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception of her writings.
- W. B. Yeats, who won in 1923, was a poet from which country?
- Wales
- Ireland
- Scotland
- Australia
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Ireland. He was born in Dublin. The prize recognised poetry that gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.
- George Bernard Shaw, born in Dublin, won in 1925. Which of his plays was later turned into the musical My Fair Lady?
- Man and Superman
- Saint Joan
- Major Barbara
- Pygmalion
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Pygmalion. The citation praises his work as marked by idealism and humanity, with stimulating satire often infused with poetic beauty.
- Pearl Buck, an American who grew up partly in China, won in 1938. Which novel about a Chinese farming family is her most famous?
- The Joy Luck Club
- Wild Swans
- Snow Country
- The Good Earth
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The Good Earth. The prize was for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and her biographical masterpieces.
- Gabriela Mistral of Chile, who won in 1945, wrote lullabies and rhymes for children. What was the title of her 1924 book of them?
- Poemas de amor
- Desolación
- Lagar
- Ternura (Tenderness)
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Ternura (Tenderness). Born in Vicuña, she became a symbol of the idealistic aspirations of the entire Latin American world.
- Hermann Hesse, who won in 1946, wrote a novel about a young man in India searching for meaning. What is it called?
- Kim
- The Jungle Book
- Siddhartha
- Steppenwolf
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Siddhartha. The Nobel Committee praised his inspired writings, which exemplify classical humanitarian ideals.
- Bertrand Russell won the 1950 prize for writings that champion humanitarian ideals and what other value?
- Strict tradition
- Military strength
- Free trade
- Freedom of thought
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Freedom of thought. Russell was a philosopher and writer, born in Wales. The Nobel citation recognises his varied and significant writings.
- John Steinbeck won in 1962. Which of his novels follows a family of migrants heading to California?
- Of Mice and Men only
- The Grapes of Wrath
- The Great Gatsby
- Moby-Dick
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The Grapes of Wrath. The prize honoured his realistic and imaginative writings, combining sympathetic humour and keen social perception.
- Ernest Hemingway won in 1954, with the citation naming his mastery of narrative, 'most recently demonstrated' in which book?
- For Whom the Bell Tolls
- A Farewell to Arms
- The Sun Also Rises
- The Old Man and the Sea
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The Old Man and the Sea. Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois. The citation also mentions his influence on contemporary style.
- Albert Camus, born in French Algeria, won in 1957. Which of his novels is set in a town struck by an epidemic?
- The Fall
- The Stranger
- The Plague
- Nausea
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The Plague. The citation says his writing illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times.
- Boris Pasternak of Russia won in 1958 for lyrical poetry and the great Russian epic tradition. Which novel is he most famous for?
- Doctor Zhivago
- The Master and Margarita
- Anna Karenina
- War and Peace
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Doctor Zhivago. Pasternak was born in Moscow in 1890. The prize recognised his achievement in contemporary lyrical poetry as well as the epic tradition.
- Yasunari Kawabata won in 1968. Which country is he from?
- Japan
- China
- Korea
- Vietnam
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Japan. Born in Osaka, he was honoured for narrative mastery which, with great sensibility, expresses the essence of the Japanese mind.
- Pablo Neruda of Chile won the 1971 prize for poetry that brings alive what?
- The lives of kings
- A single city
- A continent's destiny and dreams
- The sea only
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A continent's destiny and dreams. He was born in Parral, Chile. The citation says his poetry has the action of an elemental force.
- Patrick White won the 1973 Nobel Prize in Literature. Which country's literature did the citation say he brought 'a new continent' into?
- South America
- Africa
- Australia
- Antarctica
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Australia. White was born in London to Australian parents and wrote novels such as The Tree of Man and Voss. The citation praised an epic and psychological narrative art that introduced a new continent into literature.
- Gabriel García Márquez of Colombia won in 1982. Which novel follows the Buendía family in the town of Macondo?
- One Hundred Years of Solitude
- Chronicle of a Death Foretold
- The Autumn of the Patriarch
- Love in the Time of Cholera
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One Hundred Years of Solitude. The citation says his stories combine the fantastic and the realistic in a richly composed world of imagination.
- Wole Soyinka of Nigeria won in 1986. What type of writer is he best known as?
- Playwright and poet
- Newspaper editor only
- Sculptor
- Mathematician
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Playwright and poet. Born in Abeokuta, he drew on the mythology of his own people, the Yoruba, in his plays. The citation says he fashions the drama of existence with poetic overtones.
- Naguib Mahfouz, born in Cairo, won in 1988. In which language did he write?
- French
- Persian
- Arabic
- Hebrew
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Arabic. The citation says he has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind.
- Octavio Paz, who won in 1990, was a poet and essayist from which country?
- Argentina
- Cuba
- Mexico
- Spain
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Mexico. He was born in Mexico City. The citation praises impassioned writing with wide horizons, characterised by sensuous intelligence and humanistic integrity.
- Nadine Gordimer won in 1991. The Nobel Committee said her writing had been of 'very great benefit to humanity'. She is from which country?
- South Africa
- Kenya
- Ghana
- Zimbabwe
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South Africa. She was born in Springs, South Africa, and wrote about life under apartheid.
- Derek Walcott, who won in 1992, was born on which Caribbean island?
- Cuba
- Saint Lucia
- Barbados
- Jamaica
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Saint Lucia. He was born in Castries. The prize was for a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision and a multicultural commitment.
- Toni Morrison, who won in 1993, wrote a novel about the aftermath of slavery in America. What is it called?
- The Color Purple
- Invisible Man
- Beloved
- Native Son
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Beloved. Born in Lorain, Ohio, she gave life to an essential aspect of American reality in novels of visionary force and poetic import.
- Kenzaburō Ōe, born in Uchiko, Japan, won in 1994. His work blends life with what?
- Cooking
- Politics only
- Sport
- Myth
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Myth. The citation says he creates an imagined world where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today.
- Seamus Heaney, who won in 1995, was born in Northern Ireland. What did the citation say his works exalt?
- Royal families
- Modern machines
- Everyday miracles and the living past
- Great battles
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Everyday miracles and the living past. The prize recognised works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth.
- Wisława Szymborska of Poland won in 1996 for poetry with what quality?
- Rage
- Grand rhetoric
- Ironic precision
- Pure rhyme
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Ironic precision. Born in Bnin, she wrote poetry that brings historical and biological context to light in fragments of human reality.
- José Saramago of Portugal won in 1998. How did the citation describe his parables?
- Sustained by imagination, compassion and irony
- Sustained by science and speed
- Sustained by romance and war
- Sustained by anger alone
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Sustained by imagination, compassion and irony. Born in Azinhaga, he is known for novels that make readers look again at the world.
- J. M. Coetzee won in 2003. Which country did the Nobel Prize site say he now resides in?
- India
- Australia
- Italy
- Canada
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Australia. Coetzee was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and wrote novels such as Disgrace. The citation says he portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider.
- Orhan Pamuk, who won in 2006, wrote about the melancholy soul of which city?
- Athens
- Istanbul
- Ankara
- Cairo
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Istanbul. He was born there in 1952, and the citation speaks of the clash and interlacing of cultures.
- Alice Munro of Canada won in 2013. The citation called her a master of what kind of writing?
- The contemporary short story
- Fantasy
- The historical epic
- Crime fiction
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The contemporary short story. Born in Wingham, Ontario, she wrote about ordinary lives with great depth.
- Which songwriter and singer won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 for new poetic expressions within the American song tradition?
- Bob Dylan
- Leonard Cohen
- Paul Simon
- Bruce Springsteen
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Bob Dylan. Dylan was born in Duluth, Minnesota. His prize caused a lot of discussion about what counts as literature.
- Svetlana Alexievich, who won in 2015, is a writer from which country?
- Ukraine
- Poland
- Belarus
- Lithuania
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Belarus. The citation calls her polyphonic writings 'a monument to suffering and courage in our time'. She collected the voices of ordinary people.
- Kazuo Ishiguro, born in Nagasaki, won in 2017. Which of his novels is narrated by a butler?
- The Remains of the Day
- Klara and the Sun
- A Pale View of Hills
- Never Let Me Go
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The Remains of the Day. He grew up mostly in England. The citation says his novels uncover the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.
- Olga Tokarczuk of Poland won the prize for 2018. What did the citation praise?
- A narrative imagination that crosses boundaries
- Comic plays
- Textbooks for children
- War reporting
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A narrative imagination that crosses boundaries. She was honoured for her encyclopedic passion in representing the crossing of boundaries as a form of life.
- Louise Glück of the United States, who won in 2020, is mainly known as a what?
- Journalist
- Playwright
- Historian
- Poet
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Poet. The citation praised her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal.
- Abdulrazak Gurnah, who grew up on the island of Zanzibar, won in 2021 for writing about the effects of colonialism and the fate of whom?
- The refugee
- The sailor
- The teacher
- The farmer
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The refugee. Forced to leave Zanzibar in the 1960s, he later settled in England.
- Annie Ernaux, born in Lillebonne, won in 2022. In which language does she write?
- Italian
- Dutch
- French
- Spanish
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French. The prize was for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory.
- Jon Fosse, who won in 2023, is a playwright and novelist from which country?
- Finland
- Denmark
- Norway
- Sweden
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Norway. He was born in Haugesund and writes in Norwegian Nynorsk. The prize recognises plays and prose that give voice to the unsayable.
- Han Kang, who won in 2024, is a writer from which country?
- China
- Japan
- South Korea
- Vietnam
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South Korea. She was born in Gwangju. The citation praises her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas.
- László Krasznahorkai won the 2025 prize. Which country is he from?
- Austria
- Romania
- Hungary
- Czechia
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Hungary. The Nobel Prize site describes his work as compelling and visionary, reaffirming the power of art in the midst of apocalyptic terror.
- Anne Carson, the 2026 winner, was praised for an oeuvre in playful dialogue with what tradition?
- The folk tradition
- The classical tradition
- The Gothic tradition
- The romantic tradition
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The classical tradition. The citation honours a bold and inventive oeuvre. Carson is a Canadian poet and classicist.
- How many times was the Nobel Prize in Literature awarded between 1901 and 2026, according to the Nobel Prize website?
- 123
- 100
- 119
- 126
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119. It was awarded 119 times to 123 laureates, because some prizes were shared. In some years no prize was awarded.
- Which writer, born in Calcutta, was a spokesperson for Indian independence from British colonial rule as well as a poet?
- Pablo Neruda
- Octavio Paz
- Hermann Hesse
- Rabindranath Tagore
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Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore travelled and lectured in Europe, the Americas and East Asia. The citation notes that he expressed his poetic thought in his own English words.
- The poet Czesław Miłosz won in 1980. His poetry speaks of the human condition in a world of what?
- Total silence
- Perfect calm
- Intense conflict
- Endless leisure
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Intense conflict. The citation says he voices man's exposed condition in a world of severe conflicts.
- Mario Vargas Llosa, who won in 2010, wrote about what, according to the citation?
- Ocean life
- Space travel
- Structures of power
- Cooking
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Structures of power. The citation refers to his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt and defeat.
- Mo Yan, who won in 2012, merges folk tales, history and the contemporary using what style?
- Documentary reporting
- Hallucinatory realism
- Minimalism
- Pure fantasy
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Hallucinatory realism. The citation describes his work as hallucinatory realism that merges folk tales, history and the contemporary.
- Tomas Tranströmer won in 2011. How did the citation say his images give fresh access to reality?
- Through comic stories
- Through maps
- Through condensed, translucent images
- Through long lists
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Through condensed, translucent images. The Swedish poet was honoured because his condensed, translucent images give fresh access to reality.
- Doris Lessing, born in Kermanshah in Persia (now Iran), won in 2007. Which experimental 1962 novel of hers studies a woman writer's life?
- Mrs Dalloway
- Wide Sargasso Sea
- The Golden Notebook
- The Bell Jar
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The Golden Notebook. She lived in the United Kingdom when she received the prize.
- William Golding won in 1983. His best-known novel is about a group of boys stranded on an island. What is it called?
- Treasure Island
- Lord of the Flies
- Swiss Family Robinson
- The Coral Island
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Lord of the Flies. The citation recognises novels that illuminate the human condition in the world of today.
- Samuel Beckett, born in Ireland, won in 1969. Which play features two men waiting by a tree?
- Waiting for Godot
- The Birthday Party
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
- Look Back in Anger
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Waiting for Godot. Beckett wrote in both French and English.
- The very first Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1901, went to Sully Prudhomme. From which country was this poet?
- Sweden
- France
- Germany
- Italy
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France. He was born in Paris. The citation recognised poetry that gives evidence of lofty idealism, artistic perfection and a rare combination of the qualities of both heart and intellect.