From the political to the aesthetic, Nobel Lectures collects the words of a quarter century of literature laureates, offering a glimpse into the inspirations, motivations, and passionately held beliefs of some of the greatest minds in the world of literature.

Literature laureates from England, China, France, Austria, South Africa, Egypt, Hungary, Trinidad, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Poland, Ireland, Japan, Saint Lucia, Mexico, Spain, Russia, Nigeria, Turkey, and the former Soviet Union offer their meditations on imagination and the process of writing along with keen discussions of global affairs, geography and colonialism, and cultural change in a collection where “the force of their political opinions is what truly distinguishes them” (New York).

From Harold Pinter’s passionate lecture on the nature of truth in art and politics to J.M. Coetzee’s allegorical journey through the mysteries of the creative process, from Toni Morrison’s essay on the link between language and oppression to Orhan Pamuk’s tender memories of the influence of his father, each of the pieces—whether the laureate writes poetry, drama, or prose—is a testament to the power of literature to touch us and, every so often, to change the world.

The Nobel Prize is an international award instituted by the Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel through his will and administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. First awarded in 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature celebrates the work of a writer whose contribution to literature consistently transcends national boundaries to connect with the human condition.

Includes the following laureates:

• Joseph Brodsky
• Camilo José Cela
• J.M. Coetzee
• Dario Fo
• Nadine Gordimer
• Günter Grass
• Seamus Heaney
• Elfriede Jelinek
• Imre Kertész
• Naguib Mahfouz
• Toni Morrison
• V.S. Naipaul
• Kenzaburo Oe
• Orhan Pamuk
• Octavio Paz
• Harold Pinter
• José Saramago
• Wole Soyinka
• Wislawa Szymborska
• Derek Walcott
• Gao Xingjian