Haugesund-born playwright and novelist Jon Fosse won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable”.
– I am overwhelmed, and somewhat frightened. I see this as an award to the literature that first and foremost aims to be literature, without other considerations,” Fosse, who is also a poet, said in a statement.
One of the favourites
Fosse has received a lot of praise for his work over the years.
– His work touches on the deepest feelings that you have, anxieties, insecurities, questions of life and death.It has a sort of universal impact of everything that he writes. And it does not matter if it is drama, poetry or prose, it the same kind of appeal of basic humanism, Swedish Academy member Anders Olsson said.
Fosse has written around 70 works, including novels, stories, poems, essays, and plays. His publications have been translated into over 50 languages
His works have also resulted in more than 500 stage-productions, all across the world.
Only Henrik Ibsen can boast as many productions worldwide as Fosse. One year, he was performed more often on global stages than Shakespeare
For several years, he has been one of the favorites to win the Nobel prize, and this year, his moment of triumph finally arrived.
– This is not entirely unexpected; it has been discussed for several years, and now it finally happens. It is so incredibly well-deserved,” Erik Ulfsby, leader of the Norwegian theater said to NTB.
First Norwegian to win in 95 years
His recent novel, “Septology,” was earlier this year nominated for the prestigious international Booker Prize, considered one of the world’s most prestigious literary awards after the Nobel Prize.
He is the first Norwegian to win the Nobel literature prize since 1928, when Sigrid Undset won the prize for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages.
Fosse is now in great company with other legendary Norwegian authors, such as Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Knut Hamsun, who also won the prize in the first half of the 1900s.
Joins prestigious company
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Labour Party – AP) congratulates Jon Fosse on the Nobel Prize in Literature.
– Nobel Prize in Literature to Jon Fosse! A great recognition of an exceptional literary work that impresses and touches people all over the world. The entire Norway congratulates and is proud today!” Støre wrote on X/Twitter.
Also former prime minister, Erna Solberg (the Conservative Party of Norway – Høyre), gives her congratulations.
– I want to congratulate Jon Fosse on the Nobel Prize in Literature. This is a historic award, and he joins prestigious company. His body of work has already touched people worldwide. This accolade will undoubtedly lead to even more readers discovering his literature. With this prize, Jon Fosse unquestionably becomes one of our greatest living Norwegians,” she wrote to NTB in an e-mail.