Nobel Prize in Literature Awarded to Cambridge Poet Louise Gluck

American poet Louise Gluck has long been lauded for the inventiveness, power, and concision of her body of work. And she has now won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

'Candid and Uncompromising'

The Nobel Committee on Thursday acclaimed her "candid and uncompromising" body of work in awarding a rare glory for a United States poet. She bypassed her predecessors Gwendolyn Brooks, Wallace Stevens, and Robert Frost.

Louise Gluck's work looks unrestrained and with tongue-in-cheek at family life's losses and traumas.

Gluck had practically received every possible honor for a poet, including the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for "The Wild Iris," the 2014 National Book Award for "Faithful and Virtuous Night," and a 2015 National Humanities Medal.

Gluck is among the total of 57 female winners of the Nobel Prize. The broad majority of the literature candidates wrote in English.

Poetic Voice With Austere Beauty

Upon announcing the award in Stockholm on Thursday, Louise Gluck was praised for her "unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal." She has published 14 poetry collections, reported The Hill.

Gluck was an unexpected option for her themes of childhood and family life-inspired by myths and classical motifs. She was not seen as a favorite for the Nobel in the run-up to the declaration.

According to the head of the Nobel committee Academy, Anders Olsson, she was not more known at least outside the U.S. borders, and her work had not been translated into other languages.

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Gluck's Response

She spoke to reporters waiting outside her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, remarking that she felt "agitation, joy, gratitude."

According to Michael Jacobs, chairman of the Academy of American Poets, "As one of our most celebrated American poets, we are thrilled that Louise Glück has received this year's Nobel Prize in Literature. Her poems, her overall body of work, and her utterly distinctive voice present the human condition in memorable, breathtaking language," reported Times Free Press.

After Louise Gluck's announcement as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, an interview of the poet and essayist was recorded and posted by the Nobel Prize on Twitter. The two-minute snippet provides a suitable glimpse into the poet who has carved out her place in the literary world through her sparse but pointed prose. Her work was reportedly infused with clarity of thought.

This award makes Gluck the first American winner of the Nobel Prize since it was granted to singer and poet Bob Dylan in 2016.

The Swedish Academy lauded her distinctive writing style, "The 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded to the American poet Louise Glück for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal," reported The Indian Express.

Wbur noted that Glück is one of the United States' greatest poets of truly tragic stature. Her body of work is said to be simultaneously profound and, at times, shocking. Her style was described as usually surprisingly witty and intensely profound.