Canadian writer and poet Anne Carson has won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature for creating new forms of contemporary literature through a creative dialogue with the classical tradition, the Swedish Academy announced on Thursday.
The Academy described Carson’s body of work as bold and inventive. Her writing is strongly rooted in her interest in the origins and etymology of words, while her translations of Classical Greek literature have also gained international recognition as independent literary works.
Born in Toronto, Canada, in 1950, Carson has built a literary career that includes poetry, translation and teaching. She has taught classics at universities in Canada and the United States and has spent many years working with ancient Greek literature.
In 1981, she published her doctoral dissertation in classics, titled Odi et Amo, Ergo Sum. Her literary work has frequently combined poetry, prose, dialogue and translation in unconventional forms.
Among her notable works is Autobiography of Red, published in 1998. Her other works include The Albertine Workout, Norma Jeane Baker of Troy and Float. The Swedish Academy has highlighted her ability to reinterpret classical traditions while creating new literary forms.
Carson will receive prize money of 12 million Swedish kronor, equivalent to about $1.2 million. The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded for an author’s overall literary body of work rather than for a single publication.
