The Swedish Academy awarded the 2026 literature Nobel to Anne Carson, 76, for work it said creates new forms in dialogue with the classical tradition. She is the third Canadian-born laureate.
The Swedish Academy awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday to Canadian poet and essayist Anne Carson. The academy cited what it called her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature.
Carson is 76. CBC reported that she was in Reykjavik, listening to the wind, when the academy reached her and that she was surprised. She divides her time between Iceland and Ann Arbor, Michigan, and holds Icelandic and Canadian citizenship. Her agent, Nicole Aragi, told the New York Times that Carson's reaction was the single word Yikes.
She is the third Canadian-born literature laureate, after Alice Munro in 2013 and Saul Bellow in 1976, the Times reported. Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote that Carson has reimagined the classics with wit, imagination and a style of her own.
Carson was born in Toronto in 1950. She is known for translations of ancient Greek texts and for recasting them in a modern voice. The prize is 12 million Swedish kronor, about 1.2 million dollars, the Times said.
The award was announced in Stockholm on Thursday. No lecture date was included in the CBC or Times accounts used here.
People Sentiments Positive
- Carson said Yikes when told of the prize, her agent told the New York Times.
- Mark Carney said Carson has reimagined the classics with a style entirely her own.
- The Swedish Academy praised an oeuvre that creates new forms for contemporary literature.