Poet Louise Glück spoke to the New York Times last week, a few hours after the news of her Nobel Prize broke. Below are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Q: How did you first hear the news?
A: This morning I got a phone call at something like quarter to seven. I was just awake. A man who introduced himself as the secretary of the Swedish Academy, he said, "I'm calling to tell you you've won the Nobel Prize." I can't remember what I said, but it had some suspicion in it.
I think I was unprepared.
Q: How did you feel once you absorbed that it was real?
A: Completely flabbergasted that they would choose a white American lyric poet. It doesn't make sense. I thought, I come from a country that is not thought fondly of now, and I'm white, and we've had all the prizes. So it seemed to be extremely unlikely that I would ever have this particular event to deal with in my life.
Q: What has your life been like during the pandemic? Have you been able to write?
A: I write very erratically anyway, so it's not a steady discipline. I've been working on a book for about four years that tormented me. Then in late July and August, I unexpectedly wrote some new poems, and suddenly saw how I could shape this manuscript and finish it. It was a miracle. The usual feelings of euphoria and relief were compromised by COVID, because I had to do battle with my daily terror and the necessary limitations on my daily life.
