Anne Carson wins 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature

The Swedish Academy announced in Stockholm on October 8 that Canadian writer Anne Carson had won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature. CLS reported that the announcement was made at 13:00 local time, corresponding to 19:00 in Beijing. Xinhua said the academy's permanent secretary explained that the award recognised Carson's innovative writing and the new forms it had created for contemporary literature through dialogue with classical traditions. [ 1 , 4 ]

The permanent secretary said Carson had been told about the award by telephone and was surprised and very happy, Xinhua reported. A report carried by Huxiu said Carson was in Iceland when she learned the news and described herself as listening to the wind. The same report said she and her husband had obtained Icelandic citizenship in 2022. [ 2 , 4 ]

Carson was born in Toronto in 1950 and writes mainly in English, Xinhua reported. Her works include the verse novel Autobiography of Red, published in 1998. Huxiu described that book as a reworking of the Greek myth involving Heracles and Geryon, placing the characters in a modern setting. Huxiu also discussed Eros the Bittersweet, her examination of desire through Sappho and ancient Greek literature. [ 3 , 4 ]

Carson earned a doctorate in classics at the University of Toronto in 1981, according to IT Home and Southern Weekly. IT Home reported that she had taught at universities including McGill and combined poetry with translation throughout her career. Huxiu reported that her translations included ten ancient Greek tragedies, with works by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and that she had also translated and interpreted fragments of Sappho. [ 2 , 5 , 8 ]