The Swedish Academy could fail to nominate a 2018 Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Swedish Radio reported on Wednesday.

There are precedents to this seemingly cataclysmic event. During certain periods of war and socioeconomic turmoil in Europe the Nobel prize for literature was not awarded: 1914, 1918, 1935 and from 1940 to 1943. This time is unique, as the suspension is related to the credibility of the Swedish Academy, or lack thereof.

The Academy is in deep crisis following the resignatio...