Canadian poet, essayist and translator Anne Carson, 76, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Carson is celebrated for works that cross the boundaries between poetry, fiction and scholarship, often drawing on Greek classics.
The Nobel Committee praised her "bold and inventive oeuvre" that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature.
Carson laughed that the judges were "crazy" for honouring her, saying, "I think they're all crazy…Well, you know, it's crazy," to Icelandic broadcaster RUV while in the country.
In addition to the lifetime‑work award, the prize carries a purse of 12 million Swedish kronor (£900,000, $1.2 million).
Permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, Ingrid Carlberg, broke the news to Carson over the phone before the public announcement. "She had time to tell me she is, for the moment, in Iceland, where she is listening to the wind," Carlberg said. Carson was "taken by surprise but very happy," she added.
Carson’s notable titles include The Glass Essay, Autobiography of Red, Nox, Float and The Beauty of the Husband. In 2019 she released the performance piece Norma Jeane Baker of Troy; in 2021 she published The Trojan Women: A Comic, a graphic retelling of Euripides’ play, and her translation of Sophocles’ Elektra was staged starring Brie Larson in London.
A professor of classics for over three decades, Carson’s translations often give ancient texts a contemporary twist, and her collaborations with visual artists, choreographers, opera and theatre directors highlight her free‑flowing approach to literary convention.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney praised the achievement as an "extraordinary achievement and a proud moment for Canada", noting that Carson has "brought ancient stories to new audiences and transformed the way we think about literature."
