The Nobel Prize and Midwestern Literature

Alfred Nobel Portrait

"To spread knowledge, is to spread well-being..."


A deep connection exists between the Midwest region of the United States and the Nobel Prize for Literature. More prizewinning authors have come from this area than any other comparable region of the world, which reflects the impact that this distictive landscape and its people and culture have had on not only the world of literature but on the way in which readers perceive this realm.

Along with our class focus of Midwestern literature, this site will explore the Nobel Laureates that drew upon their experiences in this unique region for inspiration in their writing and their lives. In order to convey this information, we have provided a brief biographical sketch of each of the four prizewinning writers as we have discussed in our English 217 course at the University of Michigan. In addition, we will discuss the writing of each author as it pertains to the works that we have studied and what characteristics distinguish them as Nobel Laureates. The writers we will be investigating are Saul Bellow, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, and Toni Morrison.

Use the navigation menu on the left to browse the site and feel free to contact us with any comments.

 

 

This site was created by Katy Berlin, Colleen Russell, and Mike Setter for the Midwestern Literature course at the University of Michigan. All pictures and graphics are copyright of the original owner.