Ukrainian writer Andrey Kurkov, with odds of 33 to 1, has been included on the list of contenders for the Nobel Prize in Literature on which the British bookmaker Ladbrokes is taking bets, Literary Hub reports.
With the same odds, 27 other authors have also made the list, including Antonio Muñoz Molina, Colson Whitehead, Hélène Cixous, Leslie Marmon Silko, Rachel Cusk, Ryszard Krynicki and Samar Yazbek.
In total, 92 writers have made the list.
According to the bookmakers, the strongest chances are held by Chinese writer Can Xue (10/1), Japanese writer Haruki Murakami (14/1), Australian writer Gerald Murnane (16/1) and American writer Thomas Pynchon (16/1).
At the same time, the odds for writers forecast to have the lowest chances of winning the prize stand at 50/1. Among them are J. K. Rowling, Stephen King and Ali Smith.
This list is not an official shortlist of candidates — the Swedish Academy, which awards the prize, does not publish it. And bookmakers’ predictions can be wrong.
In 2024, Kurkov also made this list with the same odds (33/1). That year, the prize went to South Korean writer Han Kang. Her odds were also 33/1.
This year, the laureate will be announced on 8 October. The winner will receive a prize of 12 million Swedish kronor (around 53.6 million hryvnyas).
About Andrey Kurkov:
- Ukrainian writer;
- served as President of Ukrainian PEN from 2018 to 2022;
- was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2024, and in June 2026 received a Special Commendation from the Orwell Prize;
- author of more than 20 books, including Diary of an Invasion, Three Years in the Fire: The Destruction of Ukraine, Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv and others;
- his books have been translated into more than 30 languages;
- Israeli director Ari Folman will make a feature film based on Kurkov’s novel Death and the Penguin.
About the Nobel Prize in Literature:
- the world’s most prestigious international literary prize, awarded since 1901;
- one of the five Nobel Prizes established under the will of Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel in 1895;
- the names of nominees are kept secret for 50 years.