Canadian poet and writer Anne Carson has won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Swedish Academy announced on Thursday.
The Academy cited her “bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature”. The prize is worth 12 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million).
Carson, 76, was born in Toronto and has held Icelandic citizenship since 2022. Her work blends verse, prose, dialogue and translation, and she is known for her translations of classical Greek literature. Her works include the verse novel “Autobiography of Red” (1998) and “Norma Jeane Baker of Troy” (2019).
Ingrid Carlberg, the Academy’s permanent secretary, said Carson was taken by surprise. Carlberg said Carson told her she was in Iceland, “listening to the wind”.
