The 1940 Nobel Prize in Literature was not awarded when the Nobel committee's deliberations were upset by the start of World War II on September 1, 1939.[1] Instead, the prize money was allocated with 1/3 to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize section.[2] This was the fourth occasion in Nobel history that the prize was not conferred.
Nominations
Despite no author(s) being awarded for the 1940 prize due to the ongoing second world war, numerous literary critics, societies and academics continued sending nominations to the Nobel Committee of the Swedish Academy, hoping that their nominated candidate may be considered for the prize. In total, the academy received 26 nominations for 19 writers.[3]