1960
Saint-John Perse - "for the soaring flight and the evocative imagery of his poetry which in a visionary fashion reflects the conditions of our time"
Works in Knight Library

1959
Salvatore Quasimodo - "for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own times"
Works in Knight Library

1958
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak -"for his important achievement both in contemporary lyrical poetry and in the field of the great Russian epic tradition"
Works in Knight Library

1957
Albert Camus - "for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times"
Works in Knight Library

1956
Juan Ramón Jiménez - "for his lyrical poetry, which in Spanish language constitutes an example of high spirit and artistical purity"
Works in Knight Library

1955
Halldór Kiljan Laxness - "for his vivid epic power which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland"
Works in Knight Library

1954
Ernest Miller Hemingway - "for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style"
Works in Knight Library

1953
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill - "for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values"
Works in Knight Library

1952
François Mauriac - "for the deep spiritual insight and the artistic intensity with which he has in his novels penetrated the drama of human life"
Works in Knight Library

1951
Pär Fabian Lagerkvist - "for the artistic vigour and true independence of mind with which he endeavours in his poetry to find answers to the eternal questions confronting mankind"
Works in Knight Library

1950
Earl (Bertrand Arthur William) Russell - "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought"
Works in Knight Library

1949
William Faulkner - "for his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel"
Works in Knight Library

1948
Thomas Stearns Eliot - "for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry"
Works in Knight Library

1947
André Paul Guillaume Gide - "for his comprehensive and artistically significant writings, in which human problems and conditions have been presented with a fearless love of truth and keen psychological insight"
Works in Knight Library

1946
Hermann Hesse - "for his inspired writings which, while growing in boldness and penetration, exemplify the classical humanitarian ideals and high qualities of style"
Works in Knight Library

1945
Gabriela Mistral - "for her lyric poetry which, inspired by powerful emotions, has made her name a symbol of the idealistic aspirations of the entire Latin American world"
Works in Knight Library

1944
Johannes Vilhelm Jensen - "for the rare strength and fertility of his poetic imagination with which is combined an intellectual curiosity of wide scope and a bold, freshly creative style"
Works in Knight Library

1943
No award was given

1942
No award was given

1941
No award was given