Lars Heikensten: "Academy confidence can be restored"

The new Nobel Committee consists of five external and four regular members. The presentation was presented in November last year and is part of the work to repair confidence in the Academy - a trust that is still damaged, according to Lars Heikensten.

- I think it is quite damaged, but I have never doubted that it can be restored. A lot of measures have been taken in this direction. It is a new group of people who have appointed the two award winners that we will hear about this week, Lars Heikensten tells the Culture News.

The external members' assignments extend until 2020, but Lars Heikensten sees the benefits of similar arrangements in the future.

- I think that would be good. I also think, as the Swedish Academy made clear in deciding that we would distribute the awards this year, that it would be valuable if they looked over their lifetime membership and pondered on terms of mandate and age limits. For the same reason, I think that some rotation is good, to get new impetus into such work, he says.

What is not working today because you choose to take in external help?

- I would not like to describe it that way. We do not know exactly how the new Swedish Academy will work, but a number of new members have arrived and further new members are coming in now in December.

- It is a very new congregation. I am not worried that it will not work, but I think that even if we have a very well-functioning Academy, it can be an advantage to have more rotation of this kind from time to time, says Lars Heikensten.

- I think we will see a restored trust, one by one. I don't think it is so much more than just doing this well, so time will heal the wounds, says Lars Heikensten.