'I've never heard of this writer!' Oh, Gee

Like almost every year, it's unlikely you've heard of this year's Literature Nobel winner. It's unlikelier that you've read anything written by her. Be that as it may, the Swedish Academy that decides on the matter has given the gong to poet and essayist Anne Carson. For literary Canadians, her name and writings are likely to ring a (pre-Christmas) bell. For the rest of us, probably not. But please don't go into your fashionable funk to declare how you've 'never even heard of this writer!'. There are some things still left in heaven and earth, Horatio and Hema, that aren't about popularity.

The Literature Nobel comes up for special flak from worthies for recognising 'unknown names' (read: names you don't recognise). The other Nobels don't get this sniping because even cultivated people don't expect themselves to know the edgiest names in physics, chemistry, biology or even economics. Somehow, literature is seen as a different kettle of fish, where every reader sees himself or herself as an expert simply by dint of the fact that he or she reads, maybe even books. That's a mistake that has multiplied in this age of over-information and under-appreciation. The Nobel's job is to recognise the top in their fields as judged by its jury - not by your book club's latest wow. Thankfully, for that, they have another award: Nobel Peace Prize.