Haruki Murakami named 4/1 favourite to win 2016 Nobel prize in literature

With a week to go before the revelation of this year’s Nobel literature laureate, internationally renowned names including Irish Booker winner John Banville and Japanese favourite Haruki Murakami are edging up the odds at bookmaker Ladbrokes. The Swedish Academy, the 18 members of which select the author they judge to have, in the words of Alfred Nobel’s will, “produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction”, has yet to officially unveil the date its announcement will be made. But the Academy’s Per Wästberg told Swedish press that the winner would be revealed on 13 October, denying suggestions that the date had been delayed from 6 October because of members disagreeing. On Thursday morning, Ladbrokes’ favourite to take the prize – at 4/1 – was the hugely popular Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami . continue