Anne Carson: 'Bold and inventive' Canadian poet wins Nobel Prize in Literature - BBC News
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'Bold and inventive' Canadian poet Anne Carson wins Nobel Literature Prize
Image source: Alamy
By Ian Youngs
Culture reporter
Published 8 October 2026, 12:03 BST
Updated 8 minutes ago
Canadian poet, essayist, and translator Anne Carson has been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Literature.
Carson, 76, is celebrated for works that often cross the boundaries between poetry, fiction, and scholarship.
The Nobel Prize committee selected her "for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature," they said.
The Nobel Prize is awarded for a lifetime's body of work and is regarded as the most prestigious award in global literature, with the winner receiving 12 million Swedish kronor (£900,000, $1.2m).
Image source: Getty Images
Image caption: Anne Carson pictured in 1998
Ingrid Carlberg, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, broke the news to Carson on the phone shortly before the public announcement.
"She had time to tell me [she was]... 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."
Anders Olsson, chairman of the Swedish Academy's Nobel committee for Literature, praised Carson for "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 added.
Carson's notable works include The Glass Essay, Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse, Nox, Float, and The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos.
She has also translated ancient Greek literature and has been a professor of classics for more than 30 years.