Autobiography of Red

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** WINNER OF THE 2026 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE **

This is a volcanic journey into the soul of a winged red monster named Geryon. It is queer coming-of-age love story, a Greek myth retold, and a modern classic.

Tormented as a boy by his brother, Geryon escapes to a parallel world of photography. He falls deeply in love with Herakles, a golden young man, who deserts him at the peak of infatuation. So Geryon retreats ever further into the world created by his camera, fascinated by his wings, his redness and the fantastic accident of who he is. But all is suddenly and irrevocably shattered by Herakles’ return.

Autobiography of Red is a deceptively simple narrative filled with currents of meaning, emotion, and the truth about what it’s like to be red. An extraordinary, modern epic poem - moving, disturbing and delightful.

'I have never and will never read anything like Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson' Hanya Yanagihara

'Totally engrossing' Ocean Vuong

'It changed my life' Olly Alexander

'A spellbinding achievement' Susan Sontag

'A wonderful, mongrel work, a strange and ambitious bridge between classical texts and contemporary autobiographical poetry' Michael Ondaatje

One of the greatest writers of our time
Édouard Louis

About Anne Carson

Anne Carson was born in Canada and has been a professor of Classics for over thirty years. Her awards and honours include the T. S. Eliot Prize, a Lannan Award, the Pushcart Prize, the Griffin Prize, on two occasions, fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundations, and the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature 2020. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2026.

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