Today the foundation issuing a press release where they said, "The Swedish Academy has decided to postpone the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature, with the intention of awarding it in 2019."
The academy said the decision had been made due to a lack of public confidence.
The council of prestigious authors and linguists has been dealing with the fallout of allegations of sexual misconduct by the husband of one of its members and of the leaks of names of some prize-winners ahead of the formal announcements.
Photographer and cultural figure Jean-Claude Arnault, the French husband of Academy member and poet Katarina Frostenson, denied all allegations.
The revelations have sowed discord among the Academy's 18 members about how to move forward, and in recent weeks, six of them have chosen to resign, including permanent secretary Sara Danius.
Academy's interim permanent secretary Anders Olsson said, "The active members of the Swedish Academy are of course fully aware that the present crisis of confidence places high demands on a long-term and robust work for change."
A postponement or cancellation of the prize is rare but not unprecedented.
The institution, founded in 1786, has on seven previous occasions chosen to reserve the prize: in 1915, 1919, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1936 and 1949.
