Anne Carson wins Nobel Prize in Literature

Canadian poet and essayist Anne Carson has won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Swedish Academy announced on Thursday.

Carson, 76, was honoured for her “bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature.”

Born in Toronto in 1950, Carson is known for blending poetry, prose, essays, translation and classical scholarship.

Her works frequently draw on ancient Greek and Roman literature while exploring contemporary themes and forms.

Among her best-known works are Eros the Bittersweet, Autobiography of Red, Men in the Off Hours and Norma Jeane Baker of Troy.

She has also produced influential translations of classical Greek writers, including Sappho, Sophocles and Euripides.

The Nobel Prize comes with an award of 12 million Swedish kronor, worth about $1.2 million.

Carson succeeds Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai, who won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Swedish Academy said Carson’s work has created new literary forms through a distinctive engagement with the classical tradition.