Canadian poet, essayist and translator Anne Carson don win dis year Nobel Prize in Literature. Carson, wey be 76, dey known for works wey dey cross line between poetry, fiction and scholarship. The Nobel Prize committee tok say dem choose her for her bold and inventive oeuvre wey, in playful dialogue with classical tradition, don create new forms for contemporary literature.
Carson react by joke say di judges ‘crazy’ for honouring her. ‘I think they’re all crazy. Well, you know, it’s crazy,’ she tell public broadcaster RUV for Iceland, where she dey stay presently.
Dem dey award Nobel Prize for lifetime body of work and people see am as most prestigious award for global literature, with winner dey receive 12 million Swedish kronor, wey be £900,000 or $1.2m. Ingrid Carlberg, permanent secretary of Swedish Academy, say she break di news to Carson on phone shortly before public announcement.
‘She had time to tell me was that she is, for the moment, in Iceland, where she is listening to the wind,’ Carlberg tok. ‘She was taken by surprise but very happy. I could hear that in her voice.’
Born for Toronto in 1950, Carson dey live for Michigan and she don also hold Icelandic citizenship since 2022. Anders Olsson, chairman of Swedish Academy’s Nobel committee for Literature, praise how Carson ‘broken away from lyrical poetry bound to the narrative self and inspired new forms of contemporary literature’.
‘This method of writing leads to playful and ironic works that move not only between classical and modern poetry but also between different genres and artforms,’ he tok. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney say Carson win na ‘an extraordinary achievement and a proud moment for Canada‘.
The writer works get ‘wit, imagination, and a style entirely her own,’ Carney write for social media. ‘She has brought ancient stories to new audiences and transformed the way we think about literature.’
Carson notable works include The Glass Essay, Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse, Nox, Float and The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos. For 2019, her performance piece Norma Jeane Baker of Troy draw line between famous beauties from different historical periods – Helen of Troy and Marilyn Monroe.
For 2021, she release The Trojan Women: A Comic, graphic retelling of Euripides’ ancient story; and her translation of Elektra by Sophocles was staged starring Brie Larson for London last year. She don be professor of classics for more than 30 years and her writing often dey inspired by Greek literature. Her translations often give contemporary twist to ancient works.
‘Her collaborations with visual artists and choreographers and with opera and theatre directors demonstrate the freedom with which she relates to literary expectations and rule systems,’ Olsson tok. ‘It is this that lies behind the outstanding importance her work since the 1990s has had for the international art and literature scene.’
