Below is a list of the prizewinners during the period 1981 – 1990:

(1981) E CANETTI – for writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas and artistic power; (1982) G G MΑRQUEZ – for his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent's life and conflicts; (1983) W GOLDING – for his novels which, with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth, illuminate the human condition in the world of today; (1984) J SEIFERT – for his poetry which endowed with freshness, sensuality and rich inventiveness provides a liberating image of the indomitable spirit and versatility of man; (1985) C SIMON – who in his novel combines the poet's and the painter's creativeness with a deepened awareness of time in the depiction of the human condition; (1986) W SOYINKA – who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence; (1987) J BRODSKY – for an all-embracing authorship imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity; (1988) N MAHFOUZ – who, through works rich in nuance – now clearsightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous – has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind; (1989) C J CELA – for a rich and intensive prose, which with restrained compassion forms a challenging vision of man's vulnerability; (1990) O PAZ – for impassioned writing with wide horizons, characterized by sensuous intelligence and humanistic integrity.

Readership: General.