Ingrid Carlberg on the Nobel Prize: "We haven't even touched on the issue of gender"

How do you prepare for the big day?

- I try to take it easy, but of course I prepare a little all the time. How? Actually, I don't think I should tell you that...

But yes! Can you reveal something?

- I'm thinking about what I'm going to say on Thursday, but being permanent secretary also means a lot of other things, purely administrative tasks that you can't just push aside just because it's an announcement.

In an interview with TT, you said this: "I enjoy myself best when I can sit at home in front of the computer, drink tea and write books." How do you feel about being in the middle of the action on Thursday?

- Right now, when I'm talking to you, I'm actually sitting at home in front of the computer with a cup of tea, so I'm not out of my comfort zone. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited for Thursday, at the same time it's a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it. A peculiar mixture of emotions.

Has your representative, Mats Malm, given you any good advice along the way?

- Many. I ask everyone about everything. One tip was to keep calm, so I try to do that, rest in the enthusiasm. It is also a celebration day for literature. There are few times during the year that literature gets to be at the center of the world's attention as much as when the Nobel laureate is announced. Even a fairly unknown author can go viral. It's fun to be in a corner, it feels extremely honourable. I say as Peter Englund said in the same situation: "After all, it's just a price."

What is your biggest concern?

– The trachea. I had a hard time at the Book Fair and had asthma-like attacks after a cold. I sat on stage, felt my throat itch and couldn't speak. It was as if the voice was being choked. But now I've managed to push it back, so it's calm on that point too, pepper pepper. I don't want to have a coughing fit on Thursday.

In recent years, it has been every other woman among the prize winners. Surely that means we can expect a female laureate this year?

- Absolutely not. You can't count on anything. It's a literary award and we haven't even touched on the issue of gender. Then there are those who try to see patterns in everything...

The latest Pisa survey shows a dismal development in the literacy of children and young people. How can the Nobel Prize and the Swedish Academy counteract the reading crisis?

- The Nobel Prize, this becoming world news once a year helps underline the great importance of literature. Perhaps the Nobel Prize awakens a desire to read in more people, but the reading crisis is not only about a lack of desire to read. It is also about the rising generation not getting the amount of training in reading that we a little older people got more naturally. The Swedish Academy has had the reading crisis as a priority project in recent years and has supported many initiatives in schools.

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