Canadian poet Anne Carson has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature on October 8, 2026.The Swedish Academy has cited Carson’s “bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature”. The 76-year-old is also an essayist, classicist, and translator, known for blending poetry, prose, and translation. Her notable works include The Beauty of the Husband, An Autobiography of Red, Nox, and Wrong Norma.Carson was in Reykjavík, Iceland, when she learned of the prize while sweeping her kitchen floor. During a telephonic interview with the Nobel Prize organization, she described the feeling as “crazy”, as she least expected the award. She has already started thinking of giving away the prize money (including to a friend who needs a house and to Doctors Without Borders). She described her authorship as “inadvertent” and said that she is always trying to do something else.Continue reading for more details.Everything you need to know about Anne CarsonAnne Carson was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on June 21, 1950. She was the second and final child of Margaret and Robert Carson.Margaret Carson was a housewife, and Robert Carson worked as a banker for the Toronto-Dominion Bank. Because of his job, the family frequently moved towns in Ontario, such as Stoney Creek, Port Hope, and Timmins.Carson studied classics while attending the University of Toronto in the 1970s. She later studied ancient Greek under classical scholar Kenneth Dover at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She finished her doctoral dissertation on the ancient Greek poet Sappho in 1981.Continued: 78th Frankfurt Book Fair - Source: GettyHer first book, Eros the Bittersweet, influenced other writers, poets, and the entertainment world. The book was an essay collection that was adapted from her doctoral thesis. It explored the Greek concept of eros (desire) as a blend of pleasure and pain, drawing on ancient writers like Sappho, Plato, and Greek novelists.Carson then published The Beauty of the Husband, which is a narrative poem about sexual jealousy, a doomed marriage and the destructive power of obsession. It traces the trajectory of a long relationship from youth and marriage to infidelity and eventual divorce. She has also published translations of ancient Greek poets such as Sappho and Sophocles.Balancing her academic career, Anne Carson became a professor of classics and comparative literature, teaching at institutions including Princeton, New York University and McGill University in Montreal. By winning the Nobel Prize recently, Carson has become the 19th woman to win the award, out of 123 literature laureates.Princeton University celebrated Anne Carson’s Nobel Prize victory in a social media post. The official account of the university shared on X:“Congratulations to Anne Carson on receiving the 2026 #NobelPrize in Literature. Carson taught at Princeton University in the 1980s and was recently on campus to deliver the 2025 Fagles Lecture.”Anders Olsson, the chair of the Swedish Academy’s Nobel Committee for Literature, praised Anne Carson’s work and said:“In her collaborations with visual artists and choreographers, and with opera and theater directors, she has crossed over into various artistic fields, which has lent her writing a strongly performative aspect.”Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called Carson's win “an extraordinary achievement and a proud moment for Canada,” adding that her work featured “wit, imagination, and a style entirely her own.”Acclaimed poet Claudia Rankine praised her colleague with immense enthusiasm, emphasizing Carson's monumental impact on the craft of poetry. In an interview, Rankine expressed that she was "extremely happy" about the Nobel Committee's decision.