Women make up half of mankind, but only 14 of the 114 Nobel Literature Prize laureates.
Here is a list of the women who have won the prestigious honour since it was first awarded in 1901.
The names of the 2018 and 2019 laureates will be revealed on Thursday, October 10, in Stockholm.
2015 – Svetlana Alexievich (Belarus)
2013 – Alice Munro (Canada)
2009 – Herta Mueller (Germany)
2007 – Doris Lessing (Britain)
2004 – Elfriede Jelinek (Austria)
1996 – Wislawa Szymborska (Poland)
1993 – Toni Morrison (United States)
1991 – Nadine Gordimer (South Africa)
1966 – Nelly Sachs (Sweden), with Shmuel Agnon of Israel
1945 – Gabriela Mistral (Chile)
1938 – Pearl Buck (United States)
1928 – Sigrid Undset (Norway)
1926 – Grazia Deledda (Italy)
1909 – Selma Lagerlof (Sweden)
