Unmistakable poetic voice : Nobel Literature goes to Louise Glück

Stockholm: The 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to American poet Louise Glück 'for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal,' the Swedish Academy said. The prize was announced here on Thursday by Mats Malm, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy.

New York-born Glück, 77, who is a professor of English at Yale University, made her debut in 1968 with "Firstborn," and "was soon acclaimed as one of the most prominent poets in American contemporary literature," the Nobel Academy said. Her poetry is "characterized by a striving for clarity," often focusing on childhood and family life, and close relationship with parents and siblings, it said.

She has also received several prestigious awards, among them the Pulitzer Prize (1993) and the National Book Award (2014). Glück will take home the 10 million Swedish kronor prize (over $1.1 million) along with a gold medal, courtesy of a bequest left 124 years ago by the prize's creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.

Notably, the announcement comes after years of controversy and scandal for the world's pre-eminent literary accolade. In 2018, the award was postponed after sex abuse allegations rocked the Swedish Academy.

ON Wednesday, French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier and American Jennifer A Doudna won the 2020 Nobel Prize for Chemistry whereas Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Gheza won the Physics Nobel for their research on black holes.