On October 11, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to South Korea’s Han Kang. Howeverhe did not change his mind and chose not to celebrate the award when people were dying in the war. Actions that have both audiences and enemies. One of them is by the Irish writer JohnBanville who said that “it was stupid and childish and made a fool of itself.”
These words were given at a press conference at the Prado Museum, where the author of the book ‘Return to Birchwood’ and ‘Mrs Osmond’ has been invited to the second edition of the International Writers’ Residence “Writing the Prado.” The author admitted that he had never read any of Han Kang’s books: “At my age I only reread or read the best new stuff.“.
“Artists have a responsibility to be responsible to the world and not to say stupid things, not to be childish or selfish,” Banville said. “We are ordinary people like everyone else, but we are representing a great human work which is art and it is up to us to take care of it,” he added.
Regarding the position of the author Han Kang, the Nobel Prize in Literature 2024, he has chosen not to appear on the radio or take part in the celebrations at the award ceremony during the war.
