Jean-Paul Sartre, translated by Richard Howard
The New York Review of Books - December 17, 1964 Issue
Jean-Paul Sartre explained his refusal to accept the Nobel Prize
for Literature in a statement made to the Swedish Press on October 22,
which appeared in Le Monde in a French translation approved by Sartre.
The following translation into English was made by Richard Howard.
I deeply regret the fact that the incident has become something
of a scandal: a prize was awarded, and I refused it. It happened
entirely because I was not informed soon enough of what was under way.
When I read in the October 15 Figaro littéraire, in the Swedish
correspondent’s column, that the choice of the Swedish Academy was
tending toward me, but that it had not yet been determined, I supposed
that by writing a letter to the Academy, which I sent off the following
day, I could make matters clear and that there would be no further
discussion.
I was not aware at the time that the Nobel Prize is awarded
without consulting the opinion of the recipient, and I believed there
was time to prevent this from happening. But I now understand that when
the Swedish Academy has made a decision it cannot subsequently revoke
it.
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