Shawdesh Desk:

The Nobel Prize for Literature is set to be awarded on Thursday. Twice.

The Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood, fellow Canadian Anne Carson and Russian novelist Lyudmila Ulitskaya are among the names thought to be in contention for the prizes this year.

Two winners are set to be named because the prize was not awarded in 2018, reports BBC.

The Swedish Academy, which oversees the prestigious award, suspended it to make changes to its processes after it was engulfed in a sexual assault scandal.

Jean-Claude Arnault, the husband of Academy member Katarina Frostenson, was sentenced to two years in prison in October after being convicted of rape.

Frostenson stepped down, and the events sparked a crisis in the organisation involving allegations of conflict of interest and the leaking of Nobel winners’ names.

Other names thought to be in contention include Guadeloupian author Maryse Condé – who won an alternative award set up last year – plus Poland’s Olga Tokarczuk and the Kenyan Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.

The winning writer receives nine million Swedish kronor (£740,000), as well as a medal and a diploma.