Canadian poet, writer and translator Anne Carson has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature. The decision was announced at a traditional press conference by Ingrid Carlberg, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy.
Carson, 76, was born in 1950 in Toronto. The Swedish Academy justified its decision by highlighting her bold and inventive literary output. At the time of the announcement, she was in Iceland, having travelled there to listen to the wind. According to Carlberg, the writer was surprised and delighted.
Anne Carson is a renowned expert in ancient Greek literature, a translator and university professor. One of her best-known works is 'Autobiography of Red' (1998), and 'Eros the Bittersweet' was published in 1986. Her notable works include 'The Beauty of the Husband', 'Men in the Off Hours', 'Decreation', 'Nox', 'Red Doc>' and 'Float'. 'Nox' is an experimental work dedicated to her late brother.
Carson is known for her translations of ancient Greek authors, including Sappho and Euripides. Her adaptation of Sophocles' 'Antigone' is titled 'Antigonick'. For the book 'The Beauty of the Husband', she received the British T. S. Eliot Prize in 2001, becoming the first woman to be awarded that prize. In 2020, she received the Spanish Princess of Asturias Award for Literature.
This year's Nobel Prize in Literature awards the winner 12 million Swedish kronor, which amounts to approximately 1.2 million US dollars. The ceremony will take place on 10 December, on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death. The laureate will traditionally receive the award from King Carl XVI Gustaf.
The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded since 1901, with the Swedish Academy deciding on the recipient. Details of nominations remain secret for 50 years. The previous year's winner was the Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai.
