In November 2017, 18 women (inspired by the #MeToo campaign) made allegations of sexual assault and harassment against Jean–Claude Arnault, the husband of Swedish Academy member Katarina Frostenson. Arnault denied the allegations, but in April 2018, three of the Academy's 18 members withdrew in protest after the Academy voted against removing Ms. Frostenson.
Professor Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary of the Academy, then stood down, and Ms. Frostenson also resigned. In May 2018 the Academy announced that no Literature prize would be awarded that year, "in view of the currently diminished Academy and the reduced public confidence in the Academy." It said that the 2018 winner would be announced along with the 2019 winner.
Meanwhile, back at MQL ... the question setter commented that the prize was also not awarded in 1915, 1919, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1936 or 1949. I don't know where this information came from, but it appears to be incorrect. Wikipedia lists winners for every year since 1901, except 1914, 1918, 1935, 1940, 1941, 1942 and 1943. The BBC reported that "Apart from six years during the world wars, there has been only one year when the prize was not awarded. No worthy winner was found in 1935."
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