The DEI Nobel Prize in Literature

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 switched to 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.)