On Monday, the message came that writer and critic Kristoffer Leandoer was leaving the Academy's external Nobel Committee. Just before lunch came another departure: The author and translator Gun-Britt Sundström.

"It is sad that Gun-Britt Sundström and Kristoffer Leandoer leave the Nobel Committee, they have been very valuable there. We are grateful for the significant effort they made during the year and we are now reviewing how the work of the Nobel Committee will be organized for the 2020 Nobel Prize in literature, ”says Mats Malm, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, in a press release.

The Nobel Committee is the group within the Academy that produces proposals for Nobel laureates in literature and it consists of Academy members Anders Olsson, Per Wästberg, Kristina Lugn and Jesper Svenbro. The mandate for the external members extends to the current level up to and including 2020.

At present, after the two resignations, the external Nobel Committee consists of: Mikaela Blomqvist, Rebecka Kärde and Henrik Petersen.

The Nobel Foundation called for a renewed committee

It was the Nobel Foundation that called for a renewed committee to continue the work on the award ceremony. Earlier this year, Academy member Horace Engdahl left the Nobel Committee, after the Nobel Foundation announced that no members associated with the past year's events would be included there anymore.

The cultural news is looking for Gun-Britt Sundström.

The text is updated.