Anne Carson Canadian poet wins 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature

Canadian poet and writer Anne Carson has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature for her “bold and inventive oeuvre” which, through a playful dialogue with classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature, the Swedish Academy said on Thursday.

The prize, awarded by the Swedish Academy, carries a cash award of 12 million Swedish crowns, worth about $1.2 million. Carson, 76, was in Iceland when she learned she had won the award.

“She was very taken by surprise,” Ingrid Carlberg, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, said. Carlberg added that Carson had only been able to tell her that she was currently in Iceland, where she was listening to the wind.

Born in Toronto, Carson is known for a genre-defying body of work that combines poetry, prose, dialogue and translation. She has also held Icelandic citizenship since 2022.

Much of Carson’s writing draws on classical Greek literature, which has influenced works spanning verse novels, opera libretti, literary criticism and translations. Her 1998 book Autobiography of Red is among her best-known works.

The Swedish Academy said Carson’s literary work centres on the meeting point between a philologist’s fascination with words and a poet’s search for new meaning. It also highlighted her approach to etymology and said her translations of Classical Greek could be viewed as independent literary works in their own right.

Sohail Afridi Peshawar High Court seeks response over alleged use of official resources

Her 2019 performance piece Norma Jeane Baker of Troy illustrates her distinctive style. The work brings together the story of Helen of Troy from Euripides’ Helen and the life and image of American actress Marilyn Monroe.

Carson had been considered among the potential favourites for this year’s prize by bookmakers. Her award places her among previous Nobel laureates including Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Alice Munro and Ernest Hemingway.

The Literature Nobel has frequently generated debate over the Swedish Academy’s selections, including criticism that major writers such as Leo Tolstoy, Virginia Woolf and Jorge Luis Borges were never awarded the prize. The Academy has also faced criticism over the representation of American writers, although singer-songwriter Bob Dylan won the award in 2016.

Defenders of the prize have argued that the Academy also has a role in drawing attention to less widely known literary traditions and encouraging readers to explore writers beyond the most established names.

The Nobel Prizes were established under the will of Swedish inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel. The awards in literature, science and peace have been presented since 1901.

Carson succeeds Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai, who won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature for what the Academy described as his compelling and visionary body of work.