TORONTO - In the days before the Nobel Prize in Literature was set to be awarded, Claire Foster was holding out hope this would be Anne Carson’s year.
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this → set → hope
When she learned that Carson had indeed won the prestigious prize on Thursday, her reaction was one of pure delight.
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reaction → learn → delight
“I was just so excited and so happy,” she said.
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she → say → ?
“It’s the happiest I could have been for the announcement today, I think.”
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I → ’ → announcement
Foster said Carson “has been a mainstay of our poetry shelves” for 20 years, so the Queen Street West location she manages was stocked with some of Carson’s books.
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she → say → books
When Foster arrived at the store in the morning, she built a shrine to the Toronto-born writer, displaying a number of her titles in front of the cash register, knowing that the Nobel win would create buzz and curiosity from customers.
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win → arrive → customers
In the coming weeks, Foster said the store plans to order more and display them prominently.
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store → come → them
“We want them to be easily findable and recognizable,” she said.
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she → want → ?
According to Indigo spokesperson Madi Downey, “Autobiography of Red” was the bookseller’s top-selling book online by midday and “Anne Carson” was their top-searched term, up 2,272 per cent from the day before.
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Carson → accord → midday
Her book “Nox,” priced at $83.95, had also sold quite a few units, Downey said.
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Downey → price → units
Meanwhile, at Toronto’s Ben McNally Books, store operator Rupert McNally arrived early this morning to order as many Carson works as he could.
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he → arrive → works
He said he knew customers would be clamouring to get their hands on her books.
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customers → say → books
Sure enough, two minutes after the doors opened at 10 a.m. two customers arrived, inquiring about Carson.
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customers → open → Carson
A poet, essayist, classical scholar and translator, Carson is renowned for her singular, genre-bending style.
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Carson → renowne → style
With a bibliography of more than 20 books of poetry, essays, plays, libretti and translations of ancient Greek texts, Carson has earned praise from across the literary world, while also defying conventions.
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Carson → earn → conventions
Her well-known works include her verse novel “Autobiography of Red,” which reimagines the Greek myth of Heracles killing the winged monster, Geryon.
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Heracles → know → monster
The book of poems and prose, “Men in the Off Hours,” won the inaugural Griffin Poetry Prize in 2001, while “The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos” was awarded the prestigious T.S. Eliot Prize.
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Beauty → win → Prize
McNally said a Canadian winning the Nobel Prize in Literature is a “huge boon” for the business.
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Canadian → say → business
“We see a huge jump in sales of her books and books that she’s worked on,” he said.
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he → see → that
“Even books onto which she’s done introductions of other people’s works, we’ll see a jump in sale on those as well.”
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we → do → those
While McNally said he hasn’t read a lot of her work previously, he knows she is “very thoughtful and very erudite.”
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she → say → work
“And I love that for the Nobel,” McNally said.
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McNally → love → Nobel
“I love that it’s not necessarily the most in-your-face choice, but someone who I think will be a new find for a lot of readers.”
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I → love → readers
Meanwhile, when Foster is not working at the bookstore, she said she translates works from French so Carson’s “work as a person who translates has always been so important to me,” she said, adding her favourite Carson book is “Plainwater.”
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book → work → me
“But it’s really hard to choose,” she said.
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she → ’ → ?
“I find her thinking so admirable and ethical and inspiring.”
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thinking → find → ?
For Foster, she said she’s excited the Nobel Prize might prompt readers to dig into Carson’s catalogue that includes works published 40 years ago.
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that → say → works
“She has such a vast backlist and the Nobel is such a great occasion to think backwards, too, in terms of the work that she has been doing for decades.
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she → have → decades
To be able bring in older titles and obviously for us to be able to celebrate the second Canadian ever to win a Nobel is huge,” Foster said.
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Foster → bring → Nobel
“It’s huge for Canadian reading and appreciation, and we feel lucky to hopefully be a beacon that people can come to to find her.”
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people → ’ → her
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2026.
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report → publish → Press
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