The Swedish Academy awarded the 2026 literature prize to Canadian poet Anne Carson for work that remakes classical forms. The prize is 12 million Swedish kronor.
The Swedish Academy on Thursday awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature to Canadian poet and essayist Anne Carson. The official citation praised her bold and inventive body of work that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature.
Carson, 76, is known for translations of ancient Greek texts and for books that mix verse, essay and narrative, including Autobiography of Red and Nox. The New York Times reported that she is the third Canadian-born writer to receive the prize, after Saul Bellow in 1976 and Alice Munro in 2013.
Her agent, Nicole Aragi, told the Times that Carson's reaction on learning of the award was the single word Yikes. The prize carries 12 million Swedish kronor, about 1.2 million dollars, the Times reported.
Bookmakers had listed Carson and the Chinese writer Can Xue among the favorites before the announcement in Stockholm. The Academy has in recent years alternated male and female laureates after criticism of the prize's gender balance, the Times noted. Last year's laureate was the Hungarian novelist Laszlo Krasznahorkai.
The award is the literature announcement in the 5-12 October Nobel week. No ceremony date beyond the usual December schedule was given in the press release cited here.
People Sentiments Positive
- The Swedish Academy said Carson's dialogue with the classical tradition has created new forms for contemporary literature.
- Nicole Aragi relayed Carson's reaction as Yikes.