Stockholm, Oct 8 (UNI) The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2020 was awarded on Thursday to American poet Louise Gluck.
Ms Gluck was awarded for "her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal", Swedish Academy said.
Gluck is a professor of English literature in Yale University. She was born in 1943 in New York.
Her work focuses on the painful reality of being human, dealing with themes such as death, childhood and family life.
"Gluck seeks the universal, and in this she takes inspiration from myths and classical motifs, present in most of her works," the Academy said.
Her 2006 collection Averno was a "masterly collection, a visionary interpretation of the myth of Persephone's descent into Hell in the captivity of Hades, the god of death", it added.
Gluck has also won the Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for her collection The Wild Iris, and the National Book Award in 2014.
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature ran into a controversy as it was awarded to Austrian novelist Peter Handke who supported the Serbs during the 1990s Yugoslav war and spoke at the funeral of former Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic, who was accused of genocide and other war crimes.
The same year Polish author Olga Tokarczuk was also awarded for 2018 as the Prize in Literature was suspended for an year over sexual harassment.
This year's ceremony will be held under the shadow of COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of august gathering, the prizes will be distributed through a televised event with winners receiving their honours in their home countries.
The Nobel prizes are named after Alfred Nobel and have been awarded since 1901 for achievements in science, literature and peace in accordance with his will.
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