Authors and publishers suffer from the "Nobel curse".

Han Kang is not the first Nobel laureate to criticise publishers.

South Korean Han Kang won the Nobel Prize for Literature this year, and the “curse” that plagues many winners is the most famous rumour. Some of them died or had their work damaged by the prize. This curse also affects publishing houses, another major literary industry player.

Cursed writers. There is no “curse” that haunts Nobel Prize winners, but many have had unusual endings. Harry Martinson, who won the award in 1974, committed suicide after the Swedish Academy was accused of cheating. It killed Albert Camus, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Pablo Neruda, Luigi Pirandello, and André Gide within seven years. Some authors, like Elfriede Jelinek and Herta Müller, dislike the Nobel Prize because it places them in the public eye and may lead to a lack of relevance (although Gabriel García Márquez has disproven this myth).

The other curse. Publishers of Nobel Prize winners also face a shadow unrelated to unsolved mysteries. They often follow a mundane and common curse: the laws of the market, with large publishers fattening their catalogues by chequebook and small ones fighting for a name that was virtually unknown a few days ago. Several notable examples exist.

Jon Fosse, De Conatus. At seven years old, De Conatus, a small publishing house, bet on Jon Fosse, the 2023 winner. Despite their low sales, they published ‘Trilogy’ and the four ‘Septology’ volumes. On the same day as the Nobel Prize, Penguin Random House announced it would publish all of his narrative work. De Conatus had the rights to its catalogue for 10 years since its founding in 2017, but Random House’s move prevented it from growing.

Non-profit authors. In response to Penguin Random House’s announcement, Silvia Bardelás, an editor of De Conatus, stated that “it has been very difficult for us to bring [ Fosse ] to the public,” adding that “Fosse is not an author for Penguin, but the publishing market has decided so.” He will always write for an independent publisher.” This acquisition seems to be driven by editorial greed rather than a search for an author who fits each company’s publishing philosophy. The smaller ones always lose.

Visor, Louise Glück. Nobel laureate Louise Glück caused a similar stir in 2020. Seven of her eleven books were published by Pre-Textos in Valencia over fourteen years. However, the author’s representative agency unilaterally offered Visor, a small poetry publishing house, the rights. Another important player in the publishing business is Andrew Wylie, known as El Chacal for his negotiating tactics, who manages Martin Amis, Jorge Luis Borges, and Salman Rushdie.

To steal my money. The managers of both publishing houses told ‘El Mundo’ that Wylie cancelled the contract with Pre-Textos due to an illustration dispute and payment delays. Visor accepted their rights, but some argue that small publishing houses should act ethically: Visor informed Pre-Textos of Wylie’s move but accepted. For weeks, the Spanish publishing sector talked about Glück, but her impact on the market is not big enough to cause a wave beyond occasional animosity between two small publishing houses.

Rata and Han Kang. The status quo is shaken more often by small publishers who publish Nobel Prize winners. Han Kang, this year’s winner, had a difficult publishing history: translator Sunme Yoon read ‘The Vegetarian’ and was so impressed that she translated it into Spanish. She convinced Argentine publisher Bajo la Luna to publish it in English and win the Booker Prize in 2012, four years before the author’s international fame. When the small publisher Rata bought the rights, the author’s abrupt publishing history in our language continued despite the translation’s domino effect.

Random House again. Rata did not improve after publishing ‘Actos humanos’ and ‘Blanco’ by the author. In 2018, the Enciclopedia Catalana Group closed Rata after editor Iolanda Batallé became director of the Institut Ramon Llull, which owned Rata. Batallé sought Penguin Random House’s purchase of the author’s rights after nobody renewed them. This publisher will publish the Nobel Prize winner, closing the circle of large publishers that keep the most prestigious award winners.

Authors and publishers suffer from the “Nobel curse”.

Han Kang is not the first Nobel laureate to criticise publishers.

By ki0nk

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