J. M. Medeiros

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Anne Carson. Since the mid-1980s she has published a wide range of literature: poetry, essays, translations and collaborative artwork. When reading Carson one thing strikes you as a reader: she sounds like nobody else. With playful intellectual precision, she addresses painful subjects without sentimentality. Her literary voice is charged with an intensity that makes her books impossible to put down. Since Carson’s books offer multiple and ambiguous meanings they can be re-read in different situations in life. A good place to start as a reader is 'The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos' (2001). It’s a relatable portrait of jealousy and an autofictional account of a break-up. Structured as a series of tangos, the chapters oscillate between desire and anger. The verse captures the swirling movement and passion of the dance itself. Carson’s first book, 'Eros the Bittersweet: an essay' (1986) is a reworking of her doctoral thesis, exploring the classical Greek concept of eros. In the book, Carson shows how desire is fundamentally bound up with absence. The tension generated by absence is a recurring theme and a defining feature of her writing. 'Nox' is one of many collaborations that Carson has made with her husband, the artist Robert Currie. Nox is a folded text presented in a box. Part elegy, part tribute, it reflects on the disappearance of Carson’s brother in the form of a collage of memories and images. As Anne Carson said, when being asked where readers should start if they want to get to know her work: start in the middle! So pick up a book and step into the universe of our newest literature laureate.