American poet and essayist Louise Glück was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday.

Ms Glück, 77, who lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is of Hungarian Jewish heritage.

She was recognised for her “unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal”.

Anders Olsson, chairman of the Nobel Committee, lauded her “oneiric, narrative poetry" which centres on childhood and family life. "Glück seeks the universal, and in this she takes inspiration from myths and classical motifs, present in most of her works," he said.

Ms Glück, who teaches English at Yale University, made her debut in 1968 with Firstborn and went on to publish a dozen collections and several books of essays. 

A former United States poet laureate, she received a host of accolades in the course of her career, including a Pulitzer Prize for her 1992 collection The Wild Iris, and the National Book Award in 2014.

Previous Jewish prize recipients have included singer songwriter Bob Dylan and authors Boris Pasternak, Saul Bellow and Isaac Bashevis Singer.