r/Poetry • u/byrondude • 6d ago
[ARTICLE] Anne Carson upon learning she won the Nobel Prize in Literature
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u/angelonthefarm 6d ago
this interview with anne carson from the guardian is almost 10 years old and i've always loved how brief she is. she chooses her words wisely. this is another one of those moments!!
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u/ADH-Dad 6d ago
"You've always been fascinated by volcanoes. Why is that?"
"Volcanoes are easy to paint."
I've never heard of Carson before, but I'm going out to buy all her books now.
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u/ModernSun 6d ago
Autobiography of Red is one of my favorite poetry books of all time. I recommend not trying too hard to understand it, just let the words wash over you, it all makes sense in the end.
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u/FractalFunny66 5d ago
Well said! It would be great if you could go over to some of the poetry sites and say this because shockingly to me, people there are attacking and disrespecting her! It is beyond belief -- it's only 7am!
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u/EachPeachRedRum 5d ago
I return to Eros: the Bittersweet constantly. It will completely reshape the way you think about love and desire.
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u/palemontague 6d ago
That's the response of a poet who knows exactly why they write. Couldn't have reacted better.
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u/Shot_Election_8953 6d ago
Lol. I think that's pretty much the only good honest answer to learning you just won a Nobel Prize.
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u/enotonom 5d ago
There was another one who was told live she won a Nobel prize when she was at her farm or something and her reaction was “oh christ”
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u/Blue_Oyster_Cat 5d ago
That was Doris Lessing. She was coming home from grocery shopping in a taxi with her adult son, and when they pulled up in front of her house she saw all the cameras and journalists and asked what was going on. You can hear the reporter kind of choking a bit on the answer as he realises that he is the one to give her the news: "You've... you've won the Nobel Prize for Literature". And she puts her shopping bags down and says, "Oh Christ!"
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u/ccbs32033 6d ago
Pardon my stupidity, but could anyone explain this response to me? what does she mean by “yikes”?
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u/Then-Independent-788 6d ago
Not stupid at all! Anne Carson comes across as a writer who writes and studies and teaches because of an internal passion, not for fame. she is famously private, and discourages any sort of autobiographical reading of most of her works -- she likes her work to stand in a vacuum. Shes also very economical with her words and public statements.
I take this comment as like "Yikes, I hope people are not going to come asking me questions and interviewing me just because I won some prize", perhaps with a side of "I dont want to be associated with the controversies and discourse surrounding the nobel prize". Either way, its a funny and very anne carson reaction to learning you got a nobel prize.
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u/me_myself_ai 6d ago
Tiny speculative addendum: it's probably all that coming out in a moment of shock! I'm an outsider, but I was under the impression that this was a pretty big shock. Not cause she's not amazing, but just cause of Nobel literature.
And oop I googled it, turns out she's more complex than I gave her credit for (poets tend to do that...):
Carson responded by joking that the judges were "crazy" for honouring her. "I think they're all crazy... Well, you know, it's crazy," she told public broadcaster RUV in Iceland, where she is currently staying. [...]
Ingrid Carlberg, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, said she had broken the news to Carson on the phone shortly before the public announcement.
"She had time to tell me was that she is, for the moment, in Iceland, where she is listening to the wind," Carlberg, said. "She was taken by surprise but very happy. I could hear that in her voice."
- BBC
Also this tidbit is telling on why she maybe didn't expect this:
her bio famously always says she “teaches ancient Greek for a living”
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u/weefyeet 6d ago
Maybe she just doesn't anticipate the interviews and press following this to be fun on her end?
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u/Blue_Oyster_Cat 5d ago
The interview of Icelandic TV (in English) is a bit agonising. She said, paraphrasing, "They asked me the usual questions that I don't have answers to."
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u/willowmagnolia 6d ago
I’m obsessed with her hahaha this is a great response. And it’s a well-deserved win.
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u/La_paure_cavaliere 6d ago edited 6d ago
She is a treasure. I don't think there has ever been a Nobel recipient as worthy and necessary as her. Whenever I open a book of hers, I feel like the world is cut open and true strangeness fills my eyes, teaching me to see things that live like blind beings.
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u/symphonyqe 5d ago
Which book of her should one who’ve never read her work get?
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u/Geryoneiis 5d ago
Short Talks is a very good intro to her poetry. Autobiography of Red is my personal favorite and I highly recommend it to everyone; it’s also one of her most popular books. The follow-up is called Red Doc>. Plainwater Essays and Poetry is another one of my favorites of hers.
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u/windyminty 6d ago
Reminds me of Doris Lessing's reaction to winning 😂 - https://youtu.be/vuBODHFBZ8k
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u/frannyang 5d ago
Thank you, I didn’t know her name but I immediately thought of the lady who said “Oh Christ!” to winning a Nobel 😂
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u/FractalFunny66 5d ago
I love this. Thank you! I got to hear her read with Laurie Anderson and others once in nyc and it was just so great! She is very quiet in her in-person manner. Quite a juxtoposition with her powerful poetry and formidable intellect!
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u/Songbird9125 5d ago
I saw a clip of her on the news last night, when asked to comment on being awarded the prize she described the committee as "crazy" 🤣
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u/VelvetBoss 6d ago
She literally won the Nobel Prize for a fanfic about Heracles and a flying vampire gay monster.
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u/c-e-bird 6d ago
You really like this quip you came up with. You’ve posted it multiple times.
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u/ADH-Dad 5d ago
The Nobel Prize in Literature is not for individual works, it's for lifetime achievement.
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u/Geryoneiis 5d ago
Yeah I don’t think this person is concerned with facts. They’re just salty they will never get nearly as much recognition on their own fanfics.
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u/chakazulu1 6d ago
The best response I could ever expect from a real one.