Editing Graham Greene (section)

== Nobel Prize in Literature candidate ==
Acclaimed during his lifetime, Greene was for many years a perennial
contender for the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]], and he was shortlisted for the prize several times by the [[Nobel Committee for Literature|Nobel committee]].<ref name=Prize>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LJtz0iWO4O4C&pg=PA364|page=264|title=Encyclopedia of the Essay|first=Robert C.|last= Steensma|publisher=Taylor & Francis|date= 1997|isbn=9781884964305}}</ref> In 1961 he was among the final three candidates for the prize. [[Anders Österling]], chair of the Nobel committee, stated that Greene "is fully worthy of the prize, not just in regard of his most recent work [''[[A Burnt-Out Case]]''], but for his vigorous work as a whole", but the prize that year was awarded to the Yugoslavian writer [[Ivo Andrić]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.svd.se/a/f028246c-eb8b-3459-ae34-a0fc2731d98d/graham-greene-var-nara-nobelpris-1961 |title=Graham Greene var nära Nobelpris 1961 |author=Neuman, Ricki |work=Svenska Dagbladet |date=3 January 2012 |lang=Swedish }}</ref><ref name="svd" />

In 1966<ref name="nobelprize1966"/> and 1967, Greene was again among the final three choices, according to Nobel records unsealed on the 50th anniversary. For the 1967 prize the committee also considered [[Jorge Luis Borges]] and [[Miguel Ángel Asturias]]. Committee chairman Anders Österling again pushed for a prize to Greene describing him as "an accomplished observer whose experience encompasses a global diversity of external environments, and above all the mysterious aspects of the inner world, human conscience, anxiety and nightmares", but ultimately Asturias was the chosen winner.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.svd.se/hemliga-dokument-borges-ratades-for-bortglomd-forfattare |title=Hemliga dokument visar kampen om Nobelpriset |work=[[Svenska Dagbladet]] |first=Kaj |last=Schueler |date=January 2018 |access-date=3 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ts8QhPEIZKkC&pg=PT22|page=22|title=How to Win the Nobel Prize in Literature|first= David|last= Carter|date=28 March 2013|publisher=Hesperus Press |isbn=9781780940403}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/nobelprizehistor00feld|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/nobelprizehistor00feld/page/96 96]|title=The Nobel Prize: A History of Genius, Controversy, and Prestige|first= Burton |last=Feldman|publisher=Arcade Publishing|date= 3 October 2001|isbn=9781559705370}}</ref> 

In 1969, when [[Samuel Beckett]] and [[André Malraux]] were the main contenders for the prize, Greene's candidacy was however dismissed by the Nobel committee. Committee member [[Karl Ragnar Gierow]] stated: "Despite my admiration for several of his earlier works, I would not even then have placed him in the class where a Nobel laureate belongs".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.svenskaakademien.se/nobelkommittens-sammansattning-och-utlatande-1969 |title=Nobelkommitténs sammansättning och utlåtande 1969 |publisher=Svenska Akademien |lang=Swedish }}</ref> The following year Gierow further elaborated that Greene's best work was too far back in time, and that his most recent novel ''[[Travels With My Aunt]]'' was not of Nobel prize class, stating "If the committee excludes him from its proposal this year, it seems to mean that it considers him out of the discussion, in case he does not return to the level that once made his name relevant."<ref name="Gierow">{{Cite web|url=https://sa-admin.lb.se/assets/431c56c2-781f-474d-9055-334f62a6a492.pdf |title=Yttrande av Herr Gierow |publisher=Svenska Akademien |quote=Graham Greenes produktion har i stort sett hållit sig jämnare, men också för honom ligger de prisvärda verken långt i det förgångna. Sedan hans namn i fjol stod på kommitténs för- slagslista, har han kommit med en ny roman, Travels with Aunt, skriven med säker hand, fränt lynne och en fabulering, som inte ett ögonblick tröttnar, vilket däremot händer läsaren. Den bredmynta burlesken höjer sig i slutet till ett annat plan, dock inte det där ett Nobelpris hör hemma. När kommittén i år utesluter honom från sitt förslag lär det betyda, att den anser honom borta ur diskussionen, för den händelse han inte skulle vända tillbaka till den nivå, som en gång gjorde hans namn aktuellt. }}</ref>

Following the publication of his novel ''[[The Honorary Consul]]'', Greene was shortlisted again in 1974, but this time the Nobel committee was hesitant to award an English language novelist for a second year in succession following the prize awarded to [[Patrick White]] the previous year, and Greene was passed over.<ref name="gierow">{{cite web|url=https://sa-admin.lb.se/assets/99062333-4fba-456c-91e3-2166facbde6c.pdf/S%C3%A4rskilt%20yttrande%20av%20herr%20Gierow%201974.pdf |title=Särskilt yttrande av herr Gierow (pdf) |date=6 June 1974 |publisher=Svenska Akademien |lang=Swedish }}</ref>

Greene remained a favourite to win the Nobel prize in the 1980s, but it was known that two influential members of the [[Swedish Academy]], [[Artur Lundkvist]] and [[Lars Gyllensten]], opposed the prize for Greene and he was never awarded.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/07/books/briton-wins-the-nobel-literature-prize.html|title=Briton Wins the Nobel Literature Prize|work=[[The New York Times]]|first= James M.|last= Markham|date=7 October 1983}}</ref>{{efn|When an interviewer asked Greene in 1984 about his persistent failure to win the prize, he replied, "Don't let's talk about it... It's always the same story of poor Mr Arthur Lundqvist saying 'over my dead body'."<ref name="lebrecht" />}}