The Swedish Academy awarded the literature prize to Canadian poet Anne Carson for work that mixes classical tradition with new forms. The prize is 12 million Swedish kronor.
The Swedish Academy awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature to Canadian poet and writer Anne Carson on Thursday. The citation praised her bold and inventive body of work that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature. The prize is worth 12 million Swedish kronor, about 1.2 million dollars.
Carson, 76, was born in Toronto and has also held Icelandic citizenship since 2022, Reuters reported. Ingrid Carlberg, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, said she reached Carson by phone shortly before the announcement. Carlberg said Carson was taken by surprise and had time only to say she was in Iceland, listening to the wind.
Her work moves among verse, prose, dialogue, translation and criticism. Reuters noted her translations of classical Greek literature and the 1998 verse novel Autobiography of Red. The BBC also cited The Glass Essay, Nox, Float and The Beauty of the Husband. A 2019 performance piece, Norma Jeane Baker of Troy, mixes Euripides with the story of Marilyn Monroe.
The academy awards the literature prize for a lifetime of work rather than a single book. Carson had been among bookmakers' favourites this year, Reuters said, citing Ladbrokes. She is scheduled to receive the medal and diploma at the December ceremony in Stockholm.
The announcement is the literature prize only. Earlier this week the academy and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences named the medicine, physics and chemistry laureates. Those awards are separate events.
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- Ingrid Carlberg said Carson was taken by surprise and was in Iceland listening to the wind.