Anne Carson has won the 2026 Nobel Prize for Literature. She’s Canadian.

It naturally makes me proud when a fellow Canadian receives such an accolade. Especially given that there is no bigger prize than the Nobel, which is given in recognition of a career of achievment.

What embarrasses me though is that until the prize was announced, I had never heard of Anne Carson. How is that possible? I didn’t think I was that ignorant, but apparently I am.

The award is being given for “her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature.” How did I miss someone that important to the literary arts?

It isn’t as if many Canadians win the Literature Nobel. There was Saul Bellow, who was born in Montreal but moved to the US as a child. He counts, but only technically.

Short story writer Alice Munro’s name is more widely known. I can’t recall any of the stories on the spur of the moment, but I know that over the years I must have read a few.

Short story writers impress me more than novelists – it seems a much more difficult genre to master. Then again, I have never written a novel, so what do I know.

Anne Carson is an essayist and poet, which may explain why I haven’t heard of her before. I don’t read much poetry or many essays. Maybe I should start. Certainly my intention is to check out some of Ann Carson’s work – though I will probably wait until after Canadian Thanksgiving next week.

What about you? Had you ever heard of Anne Carson before she won the Nobel Prize?