Anne Carson winning the Nobel Prize for Literature may not have been a surprise, especially for those following reports on the world’s most prestigious literary honour. The Canadian poet and essayist was on the unofficial short list of top contenders. Very often, writers from such lists win the Prize, though the Swedish Academy has, sometimes, come up with surprises. This is also an honour that her readers expected her to win someday. She is among the most eminent writers in the world, though she may not be among the most well-known. Popularity is no measure of excellence in literature, and sometimes, it is even seen as a limitation. Anne Carson is beyond these limitations and may well be of the revered Nobel standard, though that standard itself defies definitions.

The Swedish Academy cited Carson’s “bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature”. Her works are anchored in classical literature, especially Greek literature and mythology, which she has reinterpreted in diverse forms. The Academy said her writing was at the intersection of a philological obsession with words, classical traditions, and experimental prose forms. She has defied traditions of lyrical poetry and explored new forms of expression, which is seen even in her translations – in one, she introduces a character the original Greek classical play did not feature.

A rich, if riotous, imagination has served her world, where both beauty and terror are real. She has also given expression to a feminine sensibility, shaped by her times and circumstances. Like all masters, she has engaged with the eternal concerns of love, loss, memory, language, silence, light, and darkness. What also stands out is that year after year, the Prize refuses to leave Europe and North America. Of the 123 Nobel Literature laureates since the Prize was established in 1901, 99 were from these two regions. There have been 30 English-speaking laureates, followed by 16 French and 14 German laureates. Among the nine top contenders for the Prize this year, six were from other regions. They included Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Haruki Murakami, and Can Xue.

Comparing writers across forms and genres can become an unwieldy proposition, but very often, the Nobel Literature Prize gives the impression of a bias working in favour of writers from Europe and North America. That detracts from the value of the global prize, though not always from the worth of the laureate. (Source: DH)