Ladbrokes of London, the famous British bookmaker, lists the Syrian-born poet Adonis as a 4 to 1 favorite to win this year’s Nobel Prize, due to be announced in the next few days.  According to one Ladbrokes official, “I really think this is poetry’s year, and without a doubt, the politically correct choice would be Adonis.”

The Nobel Prize for Literature hasn’t been awarded to an Arab since Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz received it in 1988. But for a decade now, since 9/11, and with the apparent rift between the West and Islam, Nobel handicappers have suspected that the prize is due to go to an Arab writer to counter the clash of civilizations narrative. There were several possible candidates—Lebanese novelist Elias Khoury, Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun, and Egypt’s relative newcomer Alaa al-Aswany, author of The Yacoubian Building—but Adonis was always the favorite.