Anne Carson, a writer from the Islamic Republic of Canada who identifies as “female”, has won the Nobel Prize in Literature. NYT (has anyone reading this ever heard of her or read anything by her?):
Buried within the article:
In recent years, the Swedish Academy has tried to expand the diversity of laureates after criticism that too many past recipients have been men. Since 2018, the academy has alternated between male and female laureates. Given that last year’s prize went to the Hungarian novelist Laszlo Krasznahorkai, critics had expected this year’s accolade to go to a woman.
Given that Science recognizes at least 74 gender IDs, how is it fair to alternate between just two?
I usually try to read at least one book by every Nobel winner, but “poet” is a big ask! Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse seems to be her most popular original work. Some of the Amazon reviews from before she was anointed aren’t too encouraging, even if you’re in the market for a queer reimagining of a Greek myth (the Greeks themselves weren’t queer enough?):
2023: I’m a huge fan of Anne Carson’s translation work and was so excited to read a queer reimagining of a Greek myth. This was a disappointment. … the setting was an unexplained mish mash of modern and mythological places which left me confused and unable to immerse myself. The characters were paper thin. … the prose while beautiful is unbelievably pretentious. I think I will stick to her translation work.
2021: it just looks like a jumbled mess and you kind of get the idea that it’s popular because to say otherwise might be perceived as lacking refined taste…but the reality is that it’s just not very good. That’s this book. Which is a shame because I really wanted to like it.
2016: I was bored and more bored.
2014: My reactions upon finishing were: slapdash, sloppy, pretentious, and a waste of time. Then I read some reviews and wondered how in the world this book gained such positive reviews, or for that matter even a publisher. … The amount of material in this tome that is superfluous, loose-ended, confusing and annoying far outweighs any attempts to play with old Greek mythology and mix it with contemporary culture.
2013: Pedantic and Overrated. … Even if you didn’t know that Carson had studied ancient Greek history and literature, she flaunts it in the very first pages of the book which is structured in 3 parts as follows: … Now, call me old-fashioned, but to me a poem must have rhythm and music. Carson’s prose doesn’t!! Therefore, I don’t consider it, and I don’t read it as poem.
That first review does raise the question of DEI. The committee alternates between authors whom they perceive to be men and women. Shouldn’t they also try to include authors who are members of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community for at least half of the prizes?
Separately, it seems that Anne Carson was a professor at Princeton back in the 1980s and denied tenure (i.e., “fired”; NYT). Thus we’re reminded of the poet who explained the difference between an ape and a tenured professor of English: “The ape doesn’t think that he can write.”
In other Nobel news, a 95-year-old has won the Nobel in chemistry… “French Holocaust survivor wins 2026 Nobel Prize for Chemistry”:
A Holocaust survivor whose family escaped the Nazis by hiding in a French village under assumed names has been announced as one of two winners of the 2026 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
Henri B. Kagan, who was born in France in 1930, was chosen as a Nobel Laureate alongside Kenso Soai, for their groundbreaking work in the field of pharmaceutical engineering. Conducted in the 1980s and 1990s, their respective research helped solve the problem of how to create a single molecular mirror image.
After the war, Kagan went on to receive a PhD from the Collège de France, and then went on to become a professor at what was then Université Paris-Sud, France.
I think this proves some of Brian Keating’s points in Losing the Nobel Prize and Losing the Nobel Prize: on careers in science and Who earned an old-style Nobel Prize in 2019? Trailblazing female engineer Marconi won a physics prize in 1909 for her work in radio, which was still ongoing, just 6 years after achieving practical transatlantic communication. Kagan won for work done 40 years ago. I’m sure that he deserves to be recognized, but what practical effect will the award have on someone who became emeritus in 1999? He did write the foreword for a book published in 2008, Amino Acids and the Asymmetry of Life:
(One consequence of Prof. Kagan’s long life is that he was able to personally experience both the German-influenced period of French Jew-hatred (1940s) and the Islamic-influenced period of French Jew-hatred (today, when around 23% of the “French” are immigrants or children of immigrants).)
> has anyone reading this ever heard of her or read anything by her
Just her Sappho translation, which everyone reading this is probably already familiar with.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_Not%2C_Winter
Here’s one I read today:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/158327/between-us-and
“Between us and animals is nameless.”
It’s called the prefrontal cortex. Fixed that for you.
Phil, so incredibly proud that you are highlighting not only the Brilliant Anne Carson, but perhaps more importantly the Global Leaders on the Nobel Prize Committees. These folks are the real Heroes of Humanity (akin to the Aristotles of yore)!
Thank you for your contributions to humanity, Dr. Gore, your 9 PhDs (including from the climate alarmists at CMU who’ve recently decided that the safest place to be is at sea level in Miami) and your well-earned Nobel. In many ways your most impressive achievement is your PhD from Hamilton College, a four-year undergraduate institution. Maybe you could win a second Nobel if you follow the brave example of this year’s winner, Navi Pillay, in condemning Israel: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/opinion/un-palestinians-israel-gaza-genocide.html
In 1995 President Nelson Mandela of South Africa asked me to serve as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The judicial panel over which I presided convicted three Rwandans of genocide. So I understand the word “genocide,” and it is not one I use lightly.
Our conclusion is stark: Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Hospitals, schools, churches, mosques and entire neighborhoods have been destroyed.
———– see also https://thehill.com/homenews/media/500900-nyt-magazine-reporter-conservative-backlash-property-destruction-not-violence/
New York Times Magazine reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones … “Destroying property, which can be replaced, is not violence”
Since Navi Pillay’s 2025 article, of course, the genocides in Gaza and at Cornell have only gotten worse. This opens up the opportunity for a piece by Dr. Al Gore!
Dr. Gore is being modest about his gifts as a poet:
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/one-thin-september-soon/
> The shepherd cries
> The hour of choosing has arrived
> Here are your tools
Yeah, Al you borrowed my socket set 5 years ago, thanks for returning it.
Another nobel robbed from Greenspun or at least GPT spun. Are they still going to have literature awards when only 1 guy still writes?
lion: Let’s hope that it isn’t “1 guy” but rather “1 2SLGBTQQIA+ strong and independent woman”. Men need to sit down and listen to female voices. That’s especially true if a jury is assembled for a Lindsay Clancy trial, as I’m sure you don’t need to be reminded.
We chose a White Colonizer who is genuinely interested in the Classics, and this is the thanks we get? There is no pleasing you people.
That’s a great point. At a minimum, the poetess should start all of her works with a land acknowledgment. She wouldn’t be able to write in Canada but for the land stolen from the indigenous.
Also, what do you mean “you people”?
https://youtu.be/xPxs0Qh72kY?si=F_AmwqgJXbfUEf9t
Mx. Nobel Committee, isn’t it interesting that she is “genuinely interested in the Classics” yet feels the need to “reimagine” them for Queers and the Alphabet Soup Groups Phil referenced?
Nobel Committee, it doesn’t look like Princeton University believed she was “genuinely interested in the Classics” because they rejected her tenure there after she had been an assistant professor from 1980-1987. Looking at her writings from back then, they appear similar to the gibberish I read in the news stories today.
Aristotle, it is a miracle when people are interested in the Classics at all. Asking them to value the perspectives of ancient authors is too much.
Princeton Reject, there are several distinguished Nobel Prize winners who were denied tenure, including Victor Ambros and Katalin Kariko. Sometimes Princeton is just wrong.
Anyway, it looks like our attempt to reach out to more conservative readers has failed. We will just go back to nominating various random, magical realist, Third World scribblers.
Nobel Committee, so Wonderful to hear a strong voice like mine on these pages! I loved your encouraging words of the day and wanted to share some priceless thoughts! At Harvard, for decades I’ve been advocating that we should get rid of the Classics entirely for the reason you mention (too hard for our youngsters) and replace those courses with Black Studies Plagiarism, a Complex Discipline in which I am the World’s Leading Scholar! As you know, Harvard students can barely do basic math, so we have instituted remedial math courses for them. And for what reason? Who knows! Those mathematics courses could easily also be replaced with Black Studies Plagiarism too, right?
Besides being too difficult for our youngsters, the Classics represent the Evils of Western Civilization, with the Greeks widely considered to be the foundation of this Evil (take that Mr. Aristotle!). You also mention the evils of the White Colonizers, which is a great point. When I think about a more perfect world at Harvard (and everywhere else too), I think of Ethiopia and the Wonderful, Advanced and Vibrant Society they have built over millennia, precisely because they were never Colonized!
Please let me know next time you can be in Cambridge so we can meet and exchange ideas! I can show you my favorite bank branch, where I deposit my $1.5m salary check every month!