Anne Carson, the Canadian poet who received the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday, expressed her initial impressions in a phone recording released by the Swedish Academy shortly after being informed of the decision and in an informal interview with Icelandic public radio and television. "I think they are all crazy, it's madness," Carson said when asked about her feelings regarding the Nobel. "Poetry is probably more useful than prose now, because everyone is in a hurry. It's good because it's brief, except for Homer. Homer is not brief," she also stated.
After announcing the award in Stockholm, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, Ingrid Carlberg, revealed that she had spoken on the phone with Carson and that she was "very surprised" and mentioned that she was "listening to the wind."
"You can't avoid hearing the wind here. We live with the wind. That's what I was doing," Carson said while trying to hold onto a cap so it wouldn't fly off, according to a video of the conversation released on an Icelandic television website, RUV. Carson has been living in Reykjavik for several years and holds Icelandic nationality in addition to Canadian.
Regarding her conversation with Carlberg, the writer emphasized that she was asked the usual questions from Sweden, but she "had no answers."
Carson does not believe that the Nobel is a recognition of her work and admitted that it is a "mystery" to her. When asked if the award will help her gain more readers, she said: "I suppose my publisher hopes so. I don't know. Yes, it will. They will put a label on my books and that will help."
Carson, who is 76 years old and announced in 2024 that she has Parkinson's disease, initially ignored the Academy's call several times because she didn't recognize the number, until her husband encouraged her to answer. "I had all those calls that I silenced because... I always silence the phone when it rings."
Carson also described her work as "unnoticed." "I always try to do something different."
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney referred to Carson's Nobel as "an extraordinary moment of pride" for his country.
The Swedish Academy honored Carson "for her bold and inventive work that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature."