Nobel literature prize awarded to US poet laureate Louise Gl眉ck
| Stockholm
American poet Louise Gl眉ck won the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday for her 鈥渃andid and uncompromising鈥� work, which looks unflinchingly and with biting humor at loss and trauma, especially in family life.
She joins a handful of American poets who have received the prize, which has been dominated by novelists since the first award in 1901. The last American to win was Bob Dylan in 2016. She is also one of the few women honored 鈥� the 16th female Nobel Literature laureate.
Ms. Gl眉ck, who shuns most publicity, told Sweden鈥檚 TT news agency from her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that her phone was ringing off the hook, and she was struggling to express her feelings about the award.
The Nobel Committee praised Ms. Gl眉ck 鈥渇or her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal鈥� in its citation.
Announcing the award in Stockholm, Mats Malm, the Swedish Academy permanent secretary, said he had spoken to Ms. Gl眉ck, and the news 鈥渃ame as a surprise 鈥� but a welcome one as far as I could tell.鈥�
In a 2012 interview with the Academy of Achievement, Ms.聽Gl眉ck noted that 鈥渨orldly honor makes existence in the world easier鈥� but said he true goal as an artist was 鈥渘ot capable of being had in my lifetime.鈥�
鈥淚 want to live after I die, in that ancient way,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd there鈥檚 no way of knowing whether that will happen, and there will be no knowing, no matter how many blue ribbons have been plastered to my corpse.鈥�
New York-born Ms. Gl眉ck, who is a faculty member at Yale University, made her debut in 1968 with 鈥淔irstborn,鈥� and 鈥渨as soon acclaimed as one of the most prominent poets in American contemporary literature,鈥� the committee said.
Anders Olsson, chairman of the Nobel literature committee, said Ms. Gl眉ck鈥檚 12 collections of poetry were 鈥渃haracterized by striving for clarity.鈥�
Mr. Olsson said her verses, which often draw on classical influences and examine family life, were marked by an 鈥渁ustere but also playful intelligence and a refined sense of composition.鈥�
Raised in a family with Hungarian Jewish origins, Ms. Gl眉ck has spoken of how a teenage struggle with anorexia, and the therapy she received for it, influenced her incisive writing.
鈥淟ouise Gl眉ck鈥檚 voice is unmistakable. It is candid and uncompromising, and it signals that this poet wants to be understood. But it is also voice full of humor and biting wit,鈥� Mr. Olsson said. 鈥淭his is a great resource when Gl眉ck treats one of our great topics, radical change, where the leap forward is made from a deep sense of loss.鈥�
Ms. Gl眉ck鈥檚 poetry collections include 鈥淒escending Figure,鈥� 鈥淎rarat,鈥� and 鈥淭he Triumph of Achilles,鈥� which was published in 1985 and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. It contains one of her most anthologized poems, the spare and despairing 鈥淢ock Orange,鈥� in which a flowering shrub becomes the focus of a wider wail of anguish about sex and life: 鈥淗ow can I rest? / How can I be content / when there is still / that odor in the world?鈥�
The committee described her 2006 collection 鈥淎verno鈥� as 鈥渕asterly鈥� and 鈥渁 visionary interpretation of the myth of Persephone鈥檚 descent into hell in the captivity of Hades, the god of death.鈥�
Ms. Gl眉ck is the recipient of many awards, including Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in Poetry, and the National Humanities Medal.
She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for 鈥淭he Wild Iris鈥� and the National Book Award for 鈥淔aithful and Virtuous Night鈥� in 2014. She was the United States poet laureate from 2003 to 2004.
Nobel laureates receive a $1.1 million prize and are usually feted at a banquet in December, but the event was canceled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. This year鈥檚 winners will be invited to attend in 2021.
The literature prize comes after several years of controversy and scandal for the organization that awards the accolade.
In 2018, the award was postponed after sex abuse allegations rocked the Swedish Academy, which names the Nobel literature committee, and sparked a mass exodus of members.
After the academy revamped itself in a bid to regain the trust of the Nobel Foundation, two laureates were named last year, with the 2018 prize going to Poland鈥檚 Olga Tokarczuk and the 2019 award to Austria鈥檚 Peter Handke.
But Mr. Handke鈥檚 prize caused a storm of protest: A strong supporter of the Serbs during the 1990s Balkan wars, he has been called an apologist for Serbian war crimes. Several countries including Albania, Bosnia and Turkey boycotted the Nobel awards ceremony in protest, and a member of the committee that nominates candidates for the literature prize resigned.
On Monday, the Nobel Committee awarded the prize for physiology and medicine for discovering hepatitis C virus. Tuesday鈥檚 prize for physics honored breakthroughs in understanding the mysteries of black holes, and the chemistry prize on Wednesday went to scientists behind a powerful gene-editing tool.
Still to come are prizes for outstanding work in the fields of peace and economics.
This story was reported by The Associated Press. Lawless reported from London. AP writers Frank Jordans in Berlin and Hillel Italie in New York contributed.
