Canadian poet and essayist Anne Carson wins Nobel Prize in Literature

Bangla Press Desk:  Canadian poet, translator and essayist Anne Carson has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature, the most prestigious honour in the literary world. The Swedish Academy announced the name of the new Nobel laureate at a ceremony in Stockholm at around 5pm Bangladesh time on Thursday. Last year, the prestigious award went to Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai.

The Swedish Academy said Carson received the prize for creating a wholly new form in contemporary literature through a creative and playful dialogue with the classical literary tradition. The Nobel committee described her body of work, produced over a long literary career, as exceptionally bold and innovative. She will receive prize money of 12 million Swedish kronor, or around $1.2 million.

Anne Carson was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1950. Now 76, she has spent her career writing poetry, translating ancient Greek literature and classics, and teaching at various universities. A defining feature of her work is the remarkable fusion of a linguist’s meticulous attention to words and a poet’s persistent search for new meanings. Her notable works include Autobiography of Red, The Beauty of the Husband and Red Doc.

Tracing the origins and roots of words is a key starting point in Carson’s literary work. The ancient Greek classics she has translated into English also possess considerable literary value in their own right. Among them is If Not, Winter (2002), her translation of the surviving fragments of Greek poet Sappho’s poetry. She has also earned widespread acclaim for translating Sappho’s tragedy Electra (2001), Antigone (2015) and Euripides’ Bakkhai (2015).

Under the Swedish Academy’s rules, the names of Nobel Prize in Literature nominees are kept strictly confidential for 50 years. Since the prize was first awarded in 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded 119 times through 2026. A total of 123 writers have received the honour during that period, including Carson, while only 19 of the laureates have been women.