The laudation in honor of Olga Tokarczuk was delivered by Per Wästberg, a Swedish writer and member of the Swedish Academy. He said, among other things, that Poland is a crossroads of Europe, perhaps its heart, and that it can be seen in Olga Tokarczuk’s prose. Her books reveal the history of various ideas, and one can notice an unlimited love of knowledge. – I see Alfred Nobel accepting her work; he is proud of it, Wästberg said.
Nobel Prize laureates receive gold medals engraved with an image of the founder, Alfred Nobel, and the Latin inscription “Inventas vitam iuvat excoluisse per artes” (let us improve life through science and art). They are handmade from 18-karat gold and weigh 175 grams.
Along with the medal, Olga Tokarczuk also received a cash prize of approximately PLN 4 million. She is the eighth laureate from Poland (preceded, in order, by Maria Skłodowska-Curie, Henryk Sienkiewicz, Władysław Reymont, Czesław Miłosz, Lech Wałęsa, Józef Rotblat and Wisława Szymborska).
Olga Tokarczuk visited Bolesławiec in September 2016. We described the meeting in the article: Olga Tokarczuk in Bolesławiec under the wing of Platforma.