Tomas Transtromer, Sweden's most famous living poet, won the Nobel prize for literature on Thursday.
The very first Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded in 1901 to the French poet and philosopher Sully Prudhomme.
Over the years, the Nobel Prize in Literature has distinguished the works of authors from many different languages and cultural backgrounds.
To date, the youngest Literature Laureate is Rudyard Kipling, best known for "The Jungle Book", who was 42 years old when he was awarded the Literature Prize in 1907. A century later in 2007, Doris Lessing became the oldest recipient at 88.
Following is a list of 10 of the most recent winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
2011 Tomas Transtromer (Sweden)
2010 Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru/Spain)
2009 Herta Mueller (Germany)
2008 Jean-Marie Gustave le Clezio (France)
2007 Doris Lessing (United Kingdom)
2006 Orhan Pamuk (Turkey)
2005 Harold Pinter (United Kingdom)
2004 Elfriede Jelinek (Austria)
2003 J.M. Coetzee (South Africa)
2002 Imre Kertesz (Hungary) (Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)