Why Stephen King won't win the Nobel Prize

Stephen King is one of America’s most prolific best-seller authors, why is he never in the running for a Nobel Prize for Literature? With over 70 novels to his credit, his books have sold nearly 400 million copies worldwide, making him one of the most read and commercially most successful authors of all time. His range of horror, supernatural fiction, science-fiction, and fantasy novels has left a mark on American popular culture. Iconic characters like Pennywise the Clown or the rabid dog Cujo are household names the world over – the author himself was even immortalized with cartoon figure cameos in the animated comedy series "The Simpsons."
In addition to all that, Stephen King has won almost every prize going. There’s only one prize that seems to elude him: the Nobel Prize for Literature. Best-selling author or not, Stephen King has yet to be considered on the list of nominees for literature’s most prestigious award.

But why is that, exactly? DW’s literature expert Traci Kim does some digging with the critics whilst paying homage to the celebrated “King of Horror!”
(As of 2021)

00:00 Intro
01:42 Does he deserve the Nobel Prize?
03:58 What is the Nobel Prize?
04:47 The Inequality of the Prize
07:02 The Critics
09:03 His Work
11:30 His Popular Fans
14:50 Obscure Prize Winners of the Past
18:52 Rethinking the Criteria of Winning
22:13 What is Stephen King about?
23:20 Great Writers who didn't win
24:28 Conclusion



#dwhistoryandculture #nobelprize #stephenking #literature #books

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