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Presumably, for this concept to stick with you your whole life, you'd have to have heard of "Borges"? From Googling that name, it appears the author you're referring to died in 86. Why would anyone expect him to win the current year's Nobel Prize in Literature?

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He was a titan for more than half of the twentieth century. His shadow will extend far into human influence beyond that of many names that won prizes.

Are the literature prizes generally handed out for works published that year? It sure doesn't work that way in the sciences.

No, but they are only given to living people. Borges was "waited out" and won't get any anymore.

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