Nobel Prize controversies works there were available only in samizdat-published, clandestine form. After the Swedish government refused to hold a public award ceremony and lecture at its Moscow embassy, Solzhenitsyn refused the award altogether, commenting that the conditions set by the Swedes (who preferred a private ceremony) were "an insult to the Nobel Prize itself." Solzhenitsyn later accepted the award on 10 December 1974, after the Soviet Union banished him. Critics suggest that Solzhenitsyn was awarded the prize because of his political stance, not his writing. Leo Tolstoy was nominated for the two first-ever Nobel Prizes in Literature. In the first year, the
Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa be written in English or French. Although originally all genres were considered for every award, since 2014 only one genre is eligible for each edition of the award, with drama being considered for 2014, poetry in 2016, and prose in 2018. Grand Prix of Literary Associations Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa is a pan-African writing prize awarded biennially to the best literary work produced by an African. It was established by the Lumina Foundation in 2005 in honour of Africa's first Nobel Laureate in literature, Wole Soyinka, who presents the prize,