The Swedish Academy on Thursday awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature to American poet Louise Gluck "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal."

Gluck, who is a professor of English at Yale University in Connecticut, made her debut in 1968 with "Firstborn," and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1993 and the National Book Award in 2014.

According to notes from Chairman of the Nobel Committee Anders Olsson, her writing is characterized by a striving for clarity and focuses on themes of childhood and family relationships.

She has published 12 collections of poetry and several volumes of essays on poetry.

The 10 million Swedish crown ($1.1 million) prize is named after dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel and has been awarded since 1901 for achievements in science, literature and peace in accordance with his will.

On Wednesday, the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna for their discovery of 'CRISPR/Cas9' – a gene editing tool for "rewriting the code of life".

The Nobel Prize in Physics this year was given to Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for their discoveries about black hole.

Scientists Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize for Medicine for the discovery of hepatitis C virus, which led to the development of tests and treatments.