Nobel literature prize set for October 9

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The Nobel Prize for literature has been set for October 9, the prize awarders said Friday.

Perennial favorites, from American novelist Philip Roth to Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, top the list of hopefuls for this year's prize.

British betting agency Ladbrokes gives Italian scholar and journalist Claudio Magris the edge with 3-1 odds, followed by Israel's Amos Oz and American author Joyce Carol Oates.

Bottom of the Ladbrokes list with odds of 150-1 is singer-lyricist Bob Dylan.

British novelist Doris Lessing was last year's surprise winner.

Dates for the other Nobel prizes, for achievement in the sciences, economics and peace, have been set, with the first -- for physiology or medicine -- due on October 6.

The prizes are for 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.4 million) and can be split up to three ways.

Alfred Nobel, who made a fortune from his invention of dynamite, laid the foundations for awards in peace, literature and several branches of science in his will in 1895. The awards were first given in 1901 and an additional prize in economics was established in Nobel's memory in 1968.