US poet Louise Gluck, who won the Nobel prize for literature, dies aged 80

One of America's most celebrated poets and essayists has passed away at her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Alongside the Nobel prize, she was a Pulitzer Prize winner and served as US Poet Laureate.

Celebrated Nobel-winning poet Louise Gluck has died aged 80, her editor has confirmed.

Her death was confirmed on Friday by Jonathan Galassi, her editor at Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

According to her publisher, the US poet and Pulitzer Prize-winner died of cancer at her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In a career spanning more than 60 years, Gluck became one of the most critically acclaimed poets and essayists in modern America.

She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2020, becoming the first American poet to be honoured with the prestigious literary prize since TS Eliot in 1948.

Gluck was known for her candour in exploring family and childhood throughout her work.

When awarding her the Nobel, the Swedish Academy, which is responsible for selecting the literature prize winner, said her poetry had an "unmistakable voice" and "austere beauty".