7 Controversial Nobel Prize-Winning Writers, From Bob Dylan to Dario Fo (Photos)

7 Controversial Nobel Prize-Winning Writers, From Bob Dylan to Dario Fo (Photos)

It may be literature’s greatest honor, but the Nobel Prize has sometimes drawn negative attention to writers, too.

Bob Dylan

Some critics claim the 2016 Nobel winner was undeserving because his songs contain unattributed work from others. Others believed the groundbreaking folk artist belonged more to the world of pop music than to that of letters.

Harold Pinter

The English playwright was slammed for his left-wing politics and sometimes scatological point of view.

Elfriede Jelinek

One Nobel member was so upset about the consideration given to this “chaotic and pornographic” Austrian writer that he refused to participate in the deliberations.

Herta Muller

The German novelist’s win failed to impress Entertainment Weekly, which called her “another obscure Nobel Prize literature winner.”

Mario Vargas Llosa

The Peruvian writer has made more than a few enemies for his outspoken political views, especially on Latin American governments.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

No surprise here – the dissident writer made no fans among the Soviet leaders he relentlessly criticized. He was the author of “The Gulag Archipelago.”

Dario Fo

The Italian writer made fun of the Catholic Church, which was not amused; when he won the Nobel, a Vatican newspaper called him the author of “questionable works.”

Enjoy this gallery?

Also Read: Donald Trump's Biggest Feuds, Fights and Foes: From Rosie O' Donnell to Univision (Photos)