“With wit, imagination, and a style entirely her own, Canadian poet Anne Carson has reimagined the classics,” Carney wrote in a post on X. “She has brought ancient stories to new audiences and transformed the way we think about literature.”

In an interview with the Nobel Institute, Carson described her writing as “inadvertent.”

“I always try to do something else,” she said, speaking from her seaside home in Reykjavik, Iceland, while eating crackers and drinking tea next to her husband. 

When asked if she had thought about what the prize means to her, Carson responded, “No, I haven’t. We’re just thinking of ways to give the money away. We have a friend who needs a house. And we always give a lot to Doctors Without Borders.”

Ingrid Carlberg, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, delivered the news to Carson over the phone before it became public. Calberg said that when she called, Carson told her she was “listening to the wind.”