Anne Carson wins Nobel Prize in Literature

Canadian poet, essayist and classicist Anne Carson won the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday for work that the Swedish Academy said brought classical tradition into new forms of contemporary writing.

The Academy said the 76-year-old was honoured “for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature.”

Carson, who was in Iceland when she was told of the award, reacted with surprise. “They're all crazy,” she told Icelandic broadcaster RUV of the Academy members' decision. Asked whether the Nobel would change her readership, she said: “I'll get a sticker on the front of my books.”

Carson has lived part of the year in Iceland since 2008 and has become an Icelandic citizen. She announced in 2024 that she has Parkinson's disease.

Her work draws on Greek mythology, antiquity, love, desire and loss. “Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse” reworked the Greek myth of Geryon and Herakles into a modern story of a gay love triangle. The Academy also highlighted “Nox”, her 2010 poem printed on one continuous sheet of paper in homage to her brother, who died in 2000, and said her translations from Classical Greek could be regarded as independent works.

Academy member Steve Sem-Sandberg called Carson “an author for our time” in an interview with the Nobel Foundation, saying she connects contemporary life with antiquity.

The Nobel Prize comes with a diploma, a gold medal and $1.2 million. Carson is the 19th woman to win the literature prize since it was first awarded in 1901.