photo - borys8/wikicommons
The prize, won by Polish writers Henryk Sienkiewicz (1905), Władysław Reymont (1924), Czesław Miłosz (1980) and Wisława Szymborska (1996), will be announced in the first half of October.
The two poets and one novelist represent several generations of Polish writers.
Ninety one year-old Różewicz is universally considered as one of Poland’s best poets and playwrights. His most acclaimed plays are ‘The Card Index’, ‘On All Fours’ and ‘White Marriage’ and was the recipient of the European Prize for Literature in 2007.
Born in 1945, Adam Zagajewski was a political dissident in the 1970s.
He spent many years in France and the United States, teaching at the University of Houston.
His poem 'Try to praise the mutilated world', published in The New Yorker magazine's memorial edition for 11 September 2001 enhanced his reputation in the United States.
In 2002, Zagajewski returned to Krakow and was the recipient of the 2008 Czeslaw Milosz Prize, which is given to persons who have made outstanding contributions to the development of the Polish-US cultural dialogue and contacts.
The poet was listed on a candidate for a Nobel Prize several times in recent years.
Olga Tokarczuk is the youngest of the three Polish hopefuls.
Born in 1962, she is one of the most critically acclaimed and most translated Polish writers, with ‘House of Day, House of Night’ and ‘Primeval and Other Times’ being her greatest commercial successes.
Japanese writer Haruki Murakami and Chinese author Mo Yan are favourites among UK bookmakers Ladbrokes and Niceodds for the prize this year, however, with Tadeusz Różewicz and Adam Zagajewski thought of as outsiders at 40 – 1. (mk/pg)