The Swedish Academy has made its decision. Promptly at noon it announced that the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2026 is Anne Carson. Until now, 18 women had received the Nobel in Literature (103 men awarded); from this year onward, there are thus 19.
This is the rationale for recognizing the author, with a classicist training: “For her bold and creative body of work, which, in a playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has given rise to new forms for contemporary literature.”
The permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, Ingrid Carlberg, recounted the writer’s immediate impressions of her win: “She was very surprised. We didn’t have much time to talk; she could only tell me that she is currently in Iceland, where she is listening to the wind. She was surprised, but very happy: it was clearly evident in her voice.”
Following last year’s win by László Krasznahorkai, the 2026 laureate is the 76-year-old Canadian poet, essayist and translator. It should be noted that, again this year, in the weeks preceding the announcement there were predictions and bets, and Carson was among the favorites.
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A Life Among the Classics
Anne Carson, born in Toronto on June 21, 1950, studied at her city’s university, and since 1979 has taught classical languages, comparative literature and creative writing at universities in the United States and Canada. She has authored more than 20 books, translated into Italian by publishers such as La Nave di Teseo, La Tartaruga, Crocetti, Utopia and Tlon. In the past she had also been published by Bompiani and Donzelli.
Prima del Nobel 2026, aveva vinto le borse di studio Guggenheim e MacArthur, il Lannan Literary Award, due Griffin Poetry Prize, il T. S. Eliot Prize, il Premio Principessa delle Asturie, il Governor General’s Award per la poesia in lingua inglese e il Premio PEN/Nabokov, ed è stata nominata membro dell’Ordine del Canada nel 2005.
And there are comments from her Italian editors: the managing director of La Nave di Teseo, Elisabetta Sgarbi, says: “Believing in it since the 1990s, loving Autobiography of Red, having it translated by a poet and great translator, Sergio Claudio Perroni, bringing it back to La Nave di Teseo. We are very happy to announce that the follow-up to this magnificent book, Red Doc>, will be in bookstores at the end of November. Congratulations Anne Carson, Nobel Prize in Literature.”
The history of the Nobel Prize in Literature
By the way, here you will find our updated guide dedicated to the main Italian and international literary prizes, with the history and regulations of each.
In particular, as we have explained, the Nobel Prize in Literature (one of the five prizes established by Alfred Nobel’s will in 1895) has been inextricably linked to the history of the 20th century, amid contradictions, changes, conflicts, and evolutions. Here, to conclude, you will find all the winners of the Nobel, starting from 1901. It should be noted that the Nobel in Literature was not awarded in 1914, 1918, 1935, 1940, 1941, 1942, and 1943, and that it has been refused twice (in 1958 and 1964); in 2018, instead, the award was postponed to the following year.
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