Norwegian writer Jon Fosse has received the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Born in Haugesund in 1959, Fosse has an expansive oeuvre of work that includes 40 plays, multiple novels, poetry and essay collections, children’s books and translations. His works rank high among the most performed on stage in Europe.
The writer first came to prominence through the 1999 Paris production of his play ‘Someone is Going to Come’.
Fosse’s septology of books ‘The Other Name’, ‘I is Another’, and ‘A New Name’, released between 2019 and 2021 were noted by the Nobel committee as Fosse’s “magnum opus”, in a speech by Mats Malm, Permanent Secretary at the Swedish Academy.
Anders Olsson, Chairman of the Nobel Committee, wrote a celebratory bibliography to coincide with the announcement. “Fosse combines strong local ties, both linguistic and geographic, with modernist artistic techniques,” Olsson said.When comparing Fosse to the writers Samuel Beckett, Thomas Bernhard and Georg Trakl, Olsson’s written statement noted that while Fosse’s writing shares a negative outlook, it “cannot be said to result in a nihilistic contempt of the world. Indeed, there is great warmth and humour in his work, and a naïve vulnerability to his stark images of human experience.”
