Anne Carson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Anne Carson
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Carson in 2024
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| Born | Anne Patricia Carson June 21, 1950 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
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| Period | 1979–present |
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| Spouse | Robert Currie |
Anne Patricia Carson (born June 21, 1950) is a famous Canadian writer. She is a poet, essayist, and translator. She also studies Ancient Greek culture and languages, and has been a professor.
Anne Carson studied at the University of Toronto. Since 1979, she has taught at many universities. These include McGill, Michigan, NYU, and Princeton.
She has written and translated over twenty books. She has won many important awards. Some of these are the Guggenheim Fellowship, MacArthur Fellowship, and the Griffin Poetry Prize (twice!). She also received the Order of Canada in 2005. This award recognized her great contributions to Canadian writing.
Contents
Anne Carson's Early Life and School
Anne Carson was born in Toronto, Canada, on June 21, 1950. Her father worked as a banker. She grew up in different small towns across Canada.
In high school, a Latin teacher introduced her to the world of Ancient Greece. This teacher even tutored her privately. Anne went to St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto. She left school twice because she didn't like some of the required courses. For a short time, she worked in graphic arts.
Eventually, she returned to the University of Toronto. She earned her first degree in 1974. She then got her master's degree in 1975 and her PhD in 1981. She also spent a year studying Greek poetry and texts in Scotland.
Anne Carson's Writing Style
Anne Carson is an expert in classical studies. She is also interested in comparative literature, history, and art. In her writing, she combines ideas and themes from many different areas.
She often refers to, updates, and translates Ancient Greek and Latin literature. She uses works from writers like Sappho, Homer, and Sophocles. She is also inspired by more modern writers. These include Emily Dickinson and Virginia Woolf.
Many of her books mix different writing styles. They can be poetry, essays, stories, or even translations. She blends these forms in unique ways. Her books have been published by well-known companies in the US, Canada, and the UK.
Famous Works by Anne Carson
Eros the Bittersweet was Anne Carson's first book. It was published in 1986. This book looks at the idea of "eros" or passionate love. She explains it as a feeling that brings both pleasure and pain. She uses a special Greek word, "glukupikron," which means "bittersweet." The book explores how desire works in the writings of Sappho and Plato. This book helped set the stage for her later works. It also showed her unique style, which often uses ideas from classical Greek literature.
Men in the Off Hours (published in 2000) is a collection of different types of writing. It has short poems, essays in verse, and even interviews. It also includes translations from ancient Greek and Latin. This book was different from her earlier works, which usually had long poems. The pieces in this book mention many different writers, thinkers, and artists. They also refer to historical and mythological figures.
Anne Carson gave a series of "short talks" at the University of Toronto in 2012. These were short poems on various topics. She also wrote a piece called "Jude: The Goat at Midnight" in 2011. This was based on a part of the King James Bible.
Anne Carson as a Translator
Anne Carson has translated many ancient Greek plays. She has translated one play by Aeschylus, two by Sophocles, and seven by Euripides. She has also translated the poetry of Sappho into English.
Her translated books have been published by major companies. These include Alfred A. Knopf and The New York Review of Books.
From 1986 to 1987, Carson was a special scholar in New York City. During this time, she worked on translating Sophocles' Electra. This translation was published in 2001. It was later part of her 2009 book An Oresteia. This book won an award for poetry translation in 2010. An Oresteia included plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. It was even performed on stage in New York in 2009.
In 2007, she was a fellow in Berlin, Germany. There, she worked on translating the ancient Greek play Prometheus Bound. A part of this translation was published in 2010.
In 2015, a play called Antigone was performed. It was based on Anne Carson's translation. The famous actress Juliette Binoche starred in it. The play traveled to many cities in Europe and the US.
Anne Carson's Teaching Career
Anne Carson started teaching Classics at the University of Calgary in 1979. This was before she finished her PhD. In 1980, she joined Princeton University. She taught there as an instructor and later as an assistant professor. She also taught in New York City from 1986 to 1987.
After leaving Princeton in 1987, she taught at Emory University for a year. Then she moved to Montreal, Canada. There, she joined McGill University to lead their Classics graduate program.
In the late 1990s, McGill University made some changes. They stopped offering graduate courses in ancient Greek. This meant Anne Carson had to find new ways to teach. She continued to teach at McGill. But she also spent half of each year as a guest lecturer at other universities. These included the University of Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley. In 2000, she became a special professor of Classics at McGill.
In 2003, Carson moved to the University of Michigan. She taught Classical Studies, Comparative Literature, and English there until 2009. In 2004, she was considered for a special poetry professor role at the University of Oxford.
In 2009, Carson joined the New York University Creative Writing Program. She became a special poet-in-residence and visiting professor. She teaches an annual class there with her husband, Robert Currie. The class is about working together creatively. She has also been a visiting professor at Cornell University and Stanford University. Since 2014, she has been teaching at Bard College. She teaches classical studies and writing there. Anne Carson has said that teaching ancient Greek has been "a total joy."
Honours and Recognition
In 2022, Anne Carson was chosen as an International Writer by the Royal Society of Literature. In 2023, she became the Honorary President of the Classical Association. She also received the Vigdís Prize. This award is given for great contributions to world languages and cultures.
Anne Carson's Personal Life
Anne Carson likes to keep her private life very quiet. She doesn't want people to read her writings as if they are all about her personal experiences. She often says, "Anne Carson was born in Canada and teaches ancient Greek for a living." Even though she is private, her work is still seen as very personal. She has said that she uses her own life in her work, but only as one set of facts among many others.
Her first marriage ended in 1980. This experience has been seen as an inspiration for some of her works, like The Beauty of the Husband. She has confirmed that her first husband took her notebooks when they divorced, but he later returned them.
Anne Carson's father had Alzheimer's disease. Some of her writings, like "Father's Old Blue Cardigan," touch on his health decline. Her mother passed away in 1997 while Carson was writing Men in the Off Hours. Carson ended that book with a special piece for her mother. She used phrases from Virginia Woolf's diaries to create a tribute. Another book, Red Doc>, has also been seen as a tribute to her mother. Carson has called her mother "the love of her life."
Carson is married to the artist Robert Currie. They met when she was teaching at the University of Michigan. She calls him her "collaborator-husband person." They have worked together on book designs and performances for her works.
In 2022, Anne Carson and Robert Currie became citizens of Iceland.
Awards and Fellowships
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See also
In Spanish: Anne Carson para niños
