Canadian poet, essayist, and translator Anne Carson has been awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature, honoured for work that crosses boundaries between poetry, fiction, and scholarship.
The Nobel Prize committee said it selected Carson “for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature”.
Her reaction
Carson, 76, responded to the honour with a joke about the judges. “I think they’re all crazy... Well, you know, it’s crazy,” she told public broadcaster RUV in Iceland, where she is currently staying.
Ingrid Carlberg, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, said she reached Carson by phone shortly before the public announcement.
“She had time to tell me was that she is, for the moment, in Iceland, where she is listening to the wind,” Carlberg said.
“She was taken by surprise but very happy. I could hear that in her voice.”
Why she was chosen
The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded for a lifetime’s body of work and is regarded as the most prestigious award in global literature. The winner receives 12 million Swedish kronor (£900,000, $1.2m).
Anders Olsson, chairman of the Swedish Academy’s Nobel committee for Literature, praised the way Carson has “broken away from lyrical poetry bound to the narrative self and inspired new forms of contemporary literature”.
“This method of writing leads to playful and ironic works that move not only between classical and modern poetry but also between different genres and artforms,” he said.
Background
Born in Toronto in 1950, Carson lives in Michigan and has also held Icelandic citizenship since 2022.
She has been a professor of classics for more than 30 years and her writing is often inspired by Greek literature. Her translations have often given a contemporary twist to ancient works.
Where to start
Carson’s notable works include:
- The Glass Essay
- Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse
- Nox
- Float
- The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos
Stage work
In 2019, Carson’s performance piece Norma Jeane Baker of Troy drew a line between famous beauties from different historical periods: Helen of Troy and Marilyn Monroe. In 2021, she released The Trojan Women: A Comic, a graphic retelling of Euripides’ ancient story.
Her translation of Elektra by Sophocles was staged starring Brie Larson in London last year.
Olsson said Carson’s collaborations with visual artists and choreographers, and with opera and theatre directors, demonstrate “the freedom with which she relates to literary expectations and rule systems”.
“It is this that lies behind the outstanding importance her work since the 1990s has had for the international art and literature scene,” he said.
Canada reacts
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called Carson’s win “an extraordinary achievement and a proud moment for Canada”.
The writer’s works feature “wit, imagination, and a style entirely her own,” Carney wrote on social media.
“She has brought ancient stories to new audiences and transformed the way we think about literature.”
