Norwegian author and playwright Jon Fosse has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature. He has been praised for his extensive work, which according to the Nobel Committee, gives “voice to the unsayable”. Anders Olsson, Nobel literature committee chairman, stated “Fosse blends a rootedness in the language and nature of his Norwegian background with artistic techniques in the wake of modernism.”
His style, which has become known as ‘Fosse minimalism’ and includes over 70 works from novels and essays, to children’s books and plays, has been translated into over 50 languages from his native Norwegian. Since he began writing around the age of 12, Fosse has become the second most performed Norwegian playwright, behind only Henrik Ibsen. His work includes Plays Five, I Am The Wind, The Other Name and I Is Another. His latest work, Septology, consists of seven parts split across three volumes, which is made up of 1250 pages, yet remarkably contains no full stops.
His pieces have received 24 awards since 1992, such as the Nordic Playwright Prize (2000), Chevalier of the Ordre National du Mérite of France (2003) and the European Prize for Literature (2014), to which he now adds a Nobel Prize. Following the announcement, Fosse has received widespread accolade for his achievement, including from Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who posted on X, formally known as Twitter, yesterday “All of Norway congratulates and is proud today!”.
Fosse joins an eclectic and renowned group of Nobel Laureates for literature, including Annie Ernaux (2022 laureate), Harold Pinter (2005 laureate), John Steinbeck (1962 laureate), and even Sir Winston Churchill (1953 laureate). As well as the prize itself, Fosse will receive 11m SEK (Swedish Krona), which equates to ~£820,000 for this win. Whilst Jon Fosse may be relatively unknown to British audiences, his work is widely regarded as masterful around Europe, and hopefully the prize will inspire more people to read his works.
The Nobel Prize Award Ceremony will take place in Stockholm, Sweden on December 10th, & will be streamed online
