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Vacation Reading 2001
Nobel Literature Laureates 1990 – 2000
 Compiled by Kho Su Yian
Reference and Information Services
NUS Central Library
April 2001

The Nobel Prize is the first international award given yearly since 1901 for achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace (and since 1968, economics). However, Alfred Nobel’s will was incomplete concerning the area of literature – it simply stated that that prizes be given to those who, during the preceding year, "shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind" and that one part be given to the person who "shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction." 

It was also Nobel's express wish that in awarding the Prize, "no consideration shall be given to the nationality of the candidates, but that the most worthy shall receive it, whether he be Scandinavian or not." (Abstracted from the Nobel e-Museum, http://www.nobel.se/index.html )
We present below the winners of the Nobel Prizes for Literature from the years 1990 to 2000, chosen by the Nobel Foundation in its efforts to interpret and fulfill the last words of Alfred Nobel, and a select list of their works available in the Library. Unless otherwise stated, all the books listed are located in the Central Library Main Shelves.  This list is also available in PDF format (73KB).

You may also wish to refer to our other two vacation reading lists, namely, The Booker Prize Winners List and the Non-Fiction List.

| 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
 

2000: Gao Xingjian (1940- ) 

“for an œuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity, which has opened new paths for the Chinese novel and drama”
  • The other shore: Plays by Gao Xingjian. Transl. by Gilbert C.F. Fong. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1999. PL2860 Gxj.O
  • Soul mountain. Transl by Mabel Lee. Sydney: Flamingo, 2000. PL2860 Gxj.S

(Original works in Chinese language can be found in the Chinese Library at the same call numbers)

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1999: Günter Grass (1927- ) 

"whose frolicsome black fables portray the forgotten face of history"
  • Cat and mouse. Transl. by Ralph Manheim. London: Secker & Warburg, 1963. PT2613 G768C
  • Dog Years. Transl. by Ralph Manheim. London: Secker & Warburg, 1965. PT2613 G768D
  • The flounder. Transl. by Ralph Manheim. London: Secker & Warburg, 1978. PT2613 768Fl 
  • Four plays. Intro. by Martin Esslin. London: Secker & Warburg, 1967. PT2613 G768F 
  • From the diary of a snail. Transl. by Ralph Manheim. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1973. PT2613 G768Fr
  • Headbirths, or, the Germans are dying out. Transl. by Ralph Manheim. London: Secker & Warburg, 1982. PT2613 G768H 
  • In the egg and other poems. Transl. by Michael Hamburger and Christopher Middleton. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977. PT2613 G768In
  • Local anaesthetic. Transl. by Ralph Manheim. London: Secker & Warburg, 1970. PT2613 G768L
  • Max: a play. Transl. by A. Leslie Willson and Ralph Manheim. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972. PT2613 G768M
  • The meeting at Telgte. Transl. by Ralph Manheim. London: Secker & Warburg, 1981. PT2613 G768M
  • My century. Transl. by Michael Henry Heim. London: Faber, 1999. PT2613 G768M
  • Novemberland: selected poems, 1956-1993. Transl. by Michael Hamburger. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1996. PT2613 G768No
  • The Plebeians rehearse the uprising. Transl. by Ralph Manheim. London: Secker & Warburg, 1967. PT2613 G768P
  • The rat. Transl. by Ralph Manheim. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987. PT2613 G768R
  • Show your tongue. Transl. by John E. Woods. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989. PT2613 G768S
  • The tin drum. Transl. by Ralph Manheim. London: Secker & Warburg, 1962. PT2613 G768T 

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1998: José Saramago (1922- ) 

“who with parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality”
  • All the names. Transl. by Margaret Jull Costa. New York: Harcourt & Co., 1999. PQ9281 Sar.A
  • Blindness. Transl. by Giovanni Pontiero. London: Hogarth Press, 1977. PQ9281 S243B 
  • The gospel according to Jesus Christ. Transl. by Giovanni Pontiero. London: Harvill, 1993. PQ9281 Sar.G 
  • Manual of painting and calligraphy. Transl. by Giovanni Pontiero. Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1994. PQ9281 Sar.M 
  • The stone raft. Transl. by Giovanni Pontiero. London: Harvill, 1994. PQ9281 Sar.S
  • The year of the death of Ricardo Reis. Transl. by Giovanni Pontiero. London: Harvill, 1992. PQ9281 Sar.Y 

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1997: Dario Fo (1926 - ) 

“who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden”
  • Accidental death of an anarchist. Adapted by Gavin Richards from a translation by Gillian Hanna. London: Methuen Drama, 1991. PR6068 R514A
  • The tricks of the trade. Transl. by Joe Farrell. London: Methuen Drama, 1991. PQ4866 F649T 

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1996: Wislawa Szymborska (1923 - ) 

“for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality”
  • View with a grain of sand: selected poems. Transl. by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh. New York: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1995. PG7178 S999V 
  • People on a bridge: poems. Transl. by Adam Czerniawski. London: Forest Books, 1990. PG7178 S999P
  • Sounds, feelings, thoughts: seventy poems. Transl. by Magnus J. Krynski and Robert A. Maguire. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981. PG7178 S999S

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1995: Seamus Heaney (1939 - ) 

“for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past”
  • Cure at Troy : a version of Sophocles’ Philoctetes. London: Faber, 1990. PR6058 H434C
  • Death of a naturalist: poems. London: Faber, 1966. PR6058 H434D
  • Door into the dark. London: Faber, 1969. PR6058 H434Do
  • Field work. London: Faber, 1979. PR6058 H434F
  • Hailstones. Dublin, Ireland: Gallery Press, 1984. PR6058 H434Ha
  • The haw lantern. London: Faber, 1987. PR6058 H434H
  • New selected poems 1966-1987. London: Faber, 1990. PR6058 H434Ne
  • North: poems. New York: Oxford University Press, 1975. PR6058 H434N
  • Opened ground: poems 1966-1996. London: Faber, 1998. PR8858 Hea
  • The place of writing. Atlanta, Ga.: Scholars Press, 1989. PR6058 H434Pl. (CL Closed Stacks) 
  • Preoccupations: selected prose, 1968-1978. London: Faber, 1980. PR6058 H434P
  • The rattle bag. Ed. by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes. London: Faber, 1982. PN6110 Chi.R
  • Seeing things. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1991. PR6058 H434Se
  • Selected poems 1965-1975. London: Faber, 1980. PR6058 H434Sp
  • The spirit level. London: Faber, 1996. PR6058 H434Si
  • Station island. London: Faber, 1984. PR6058 H434S
  • Sweeney astray. London: Faber, 1983. PR6058 H434Sw
  • Wintering out. London: Faber, 1972. PR6058 H434W

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1994: Kenzaburo Oe (1935 - )

"who with poetic force creates an imagined world, where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today”
  • An echo of heaven. Transl. by Margaret Mitsutani. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1996. PL858 Oe.Ec
  • A healing family. Transl. by Stephen Snyder. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1996. PL858 Oe.He
  • Hiroshima notes. Ed. by David L. Swain; transl. by Toshi Yonezawa. Tokyo: YMCA Press, 1981. D767.25 Hir.O
  • A personal matter. Transl. by John Nathan. Tokyo: C. E. Tuttle 1969. PL858 Oe.P
  • The pinch runner memorandum. Transl. by Michiko N. Wilson and Michael K. Wilson. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1994. PL858 Oe.Pi
  • The silent cry. Transl. by John Bester. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1974. PL858 Oe.S (CL Closed Stacks) 
  • Teach us to outgrow our madness: four short novels. Transl. by John Nathan. New York: Grove Press, 1977. PL858 Oe.T. (HL General Reading)


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1993: Toni Morrison (1931 - ) 

“who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality”
  • Beloved: a novel. New York: Knopf, 1987. PS3563 M882B
  • The bluest eye. New York: Washington Square Press, 1970. PS3563 M882Bl
  • Jazz. New York: Knopf, 1992. PS3563 M882J
  • Paradise. New York: Knopf, 1998. PS3563 M882P
  • Playing in the dark: whiteness and the literary imagination. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992. PS173 Neg.Mo
  • Song of Solomon. London: Chatto & Windus, 1978. PS3563 M882S
  • Sula. New York: New American Library, 1973. PS3563 M882Su
  • Tar baby. New York: Knopf, 1981. PS3563 M882Ta

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1992: Derek Walcott (1930 - ) 

“for a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment” 
  • Another life. London: Cape, 1973. PR9900 Wes.W 
  • The Arkansas testament. London: Faber, 1988. PR9900 Wes.W 
  • The bounty. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1997. PR9900 Wes.W 
  • The castaway, and other poems. London: Cape, 1965. PR9900 Wes.W 
  • Collected poems, 1948-1984. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1986. PR9900 Wes.W 
  • Dream on Monkey Mountain, and other plays. London: Cape, 1970. PR9900 Wes.W 
  • The fortunate traveller. London: Faber, 1982. PR9900 Wes.W 
  • The gulf and other poems. London: Cape, 1969. PR9900 Wes.W 
  • In a green night: poems 1948-1960. London: Cape, 1962. PR9900 Wes.W (CL Closed Stacks)
  • Malcauchon, or, The six in the rain. Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: U.W.I. Extra-Mural Dept., 1978. PR9900 Wes.Cp 16 
  • Midsummer. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1984. PR9900 Wes.W 
  • Omeros. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1990. PR9900 Wes.W 
  • Remembrance & Pantomime: two plays. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1980. PR9900 Wes.W (CL Closed Stacks)
  • Sea grapes. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1976. PR9900 Wes.W 
  • Selected poetry. Selected, annotated and introduced by Wayne Brown. London: Heinemann, 1981. PR9900 Wes.W 
  • The star-apple kingdom. London: Cape, 1980. PR9900 Wes.W 
  • Three plays. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1986. PR9900 Wes.W 

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1991: Nadine Gordimer (1923- ) 

“who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity”
  • Burger's daughter. London: Cape, 1979. PR9897 G661B
  • The conservationist. London: Cape, 1974. PR9897 G661C
  • A guest of honour. New York: Viking Press, 1970. PR9897 G661G
  • July's people. London: Cape, 1981. PR9897 G661J
  • Jump and other stories. London: Bloomsbury, 1991. PR9897 G661Ju
  • The late bourgeois world. London: Victor Gollancz, 1966. PR9897 G661L
  • Livingstone's companions; stories. New York: Viking Press, 1971. PR9897 G661Li
  • The lying days. London: Cape, 1978. PR9897 G661Ly
  • My son's story. London: Bloomsbury, 1990. PR9897 G661M
  • None to accompany me. London: Bloomsbury, 1994. PR9897 G661No
  • Not for publication. London: Victor Gollancz, 1965. PR9897 G661N
  • Occasion for loving. London: Victor Gollancz, 1963. PR9897 G661Cc
  • Selected stories. New York: Viking Press, 1975. PR9897 G661S
  • Six feet of the country. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1983. PR9897 G661Si
  • The soldier's embrace: stories. London: Cape, 1980. PR9897 G661Sl
  • Something out there. London: Cape, 1984. PR9897 G661Sm
  • A sport of nature : a novel. New York: Knopf, 1987. PR9897 G661Sp
  • A world of strangers. London: Cape, 1976. PR9897 G661W
  • Writing and being. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995. PN771 Gor

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1990: Octavio Paz (1914-1998) 

“for impassioned writing with wide horizons, characterized by sensuous intelligence and humanistic integrity”
  • The bow and the lyre: the poem,the poetic revelation, poetry and history. Transl. by Ruth L. C. Simms. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1973. PN1031 Paz
  • Children of the mire ; modern poetry from Romanticism to the avant-garde. Transl. by Rachel Phillips. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1974. PN1161 Paz
  • The collected poems of Octavio Paz, 1957-1987. Ed. and transl. by Eliot Weinberger ; with additional translations by Elizabeth Bishop [et al.]. New York: New Directions, 1987. PQ7297 Paz.C
  • Conjunctions and disjunctions. Transl. by Helen R. Lane. New York: Viking Press, 1974. HQ21 Paz
  • Early poems, 1935-1955. Transl. by Muriel Rukeyser, [et al.]. New York: New Directions, 1973. PQ7297 Paz.E
  • In light of India. Transl. by Eliot Weinberger. New York: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1997. DS423 Paz
  • The labyrinth of solitude: life and thought in Mexico. Transl. by Lysander Kemp. New York: Grove, 1961. F1210 Paz
  • Renga: a chain of poems. Transl. by Charles Tomlinson. New York: G. Braziller, 1971. PN6110 Ren.R
  • Selected poems. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1979. PQ7297 Paz.S
  • The siren & the seashell, and other essays on poets and poetry. Transl. by Lysander Kemp and Margaret Sayers Peden. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1976. PN1136 Paz
  • Sor Juana: her life and her world. Transl. by Margaret Sayers Peden. London: Faber, 1988. PQ7296 Jua*P


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This bibliography is available online at http://www.lib.nus.edu.sg/bib/vacnobel.html

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