One indication of the prestige of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature is its record of 34 laureates, finalists, or jurors who in the past 54 years have been awarded Nobel Prizes following their involvement with the Neustadt Prize, with only one exception: José Saramago (Portugal), who was a Nobel Prize recipient before being considered for the Neustadt.
| Nobel Prize Year | Nobel Laureate | Neustadt Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature | Alexander Solzhenitzyn | 1970 Neustadt Candidate |
| 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature | Pablo Neruda | 1970 Neustadt Candidate |
| 1972 Nobel Prize in Literature | Heinrich Böll | 1970 Neustadt Juror |
| 1974 Nobel Prize in Literature | Eyvind Johnson (co-recipient) | 1974 Neustadt Candidate |
| 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature | Eugenio Montale | 1970 Neustadt Candidate |
| 1979 Nobel Prize in Literature | Odysseus Elytis | 1972 Neustadt Juror |
| 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature | Czeslaw Milosz | 1978 Neustadt Laureate, 1999 Puterbaugh Fellow |
| 1981 Nobel Prize in Literature | Elias Canetti | 1978 Neustadt Candidate |
| 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature | Gabriel García Márquez | 1972 Neustadt Laureate |
| 1985 Nobel Prize in Literature | Claude Simon | 1972 Neustadt Candidate |
| 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature | Wole Soyinka | 1974, 1976, 1986 Neustadt Candidate |
| 1986 Nobel Peace Prize | Elie Wiesel | 1984 Neustadt Juror |
| 1987 Nobel Prize in Literature | Joseph Brodsky | 1978 Neustadt Juror |
| 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature | Octavio Paz | 1982 Neustadt Laureate, 1971 Puterbaugh Fellow |
| 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature | Nadine Gordimer | 1988 Neustadt Candidate |
| 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature | Derek Walcott | 1978 Neustadt Juror |
| 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature | Toni Morrison | 1994 Neustadt Candidate (nominated before 1993 Nobel Prize announcement) |
| 1994 Nobel Prize in Literature | Kenzaburo Oe | 1986, 1992 Neustadt Candidate, 2001 Puterbaugh Fellow |
| 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature | Seamus Heaney | 1994 Neustadt Candidate |
| 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature | José Saramago | 2004 Neustadt Candidate |
| 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature | Günter Grass | 1980, 1986 Neustadt Candidate |
| 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature | V. S. Naipaul | 1978, 1990, 2000 Neustadt Candidate |
| 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature | J. M. Coetzee | 1994 Neustadt Juror, 2004 Neustadt Candidate (nominated before 2003 Nobel Prize announcement), 2003 Puterbaugh Fellow |
| 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature | Harold Pinter | 1972 Neustadt Candidate |
| 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature | Orhan Pamuk | 2006 Neustadt Candidate (nominated before 2006 Nobel Prize announcement), 2006 Puterbaugh Fellow |
| 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature | Doris Lessing | 1998 Neustadt Candidate |
| 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature | Mario Vargas Llosa | 1970 Neustadt Juror, 1977 Puterbaugh Fellow, 2004 Neustadt Candidate |
| 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature | Tomas Tranströmer | 1990 Neustadt Laureate |
| 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature | Mo Yan | 1998 Neustadt Candidate |
| 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature | Alice Munro | 2006 Neustadt Candidate |
| 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature | Svetlana Alexievich | 1994 Neustadt Candidate |
| 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature | Bob Dylan | 2012 Neustadt Candidate |
| 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature | Peter Handke | 1988 Neustadt Candidate |
| 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature | Abdulrazak Gurnah | 2004 Neustadt Juror |
