Congratulations to Jon Fosse, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature.
The Nobel Committee cited the Norwegian author’s ‘innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable’.
‘His immense œuvre written in Nynorsk and spanning a variety of genres consists of a wealth of plays, novels, poetry collections, essays, children’s books and translations,’ wrote Anders Olsson, Chairman of the Nobel Committee. ‘While he is today one of the most widely performed playwrights in the world, he has also become increasingly recognized for his prose … there is great warmth and humour in his work, and a naïve vulnerability to his stark images of human experience.’
The committee noted Fosse’s ‘magnum opus in prose’ Septology, published in one volume and translated by Damion Searls. ‘The novel is written in the form of a monologue in which an elderly artist speaks to himself as another person.
The work progresses seemingly endlessly and without sentence breaks, but is formally held together by repetitions, recurring themes and a fixed time span of seven days. Each of its parts opens with the same phrase and concludes with the same prayer to God …
The septology is moreover not only Asle’s attempt at reconciliation with his own fate, it is also an elegy through which he mourns the premature passing of his wife, as well as a Künstlerroman dealing with his rather less than successful career as an artist.’
ABOUT THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE
“The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts, which shall be apportioned as follows: /- – -/ one part to the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction …” (Excerpt from the will of Alfred Nobel)
Alfred Nobel had broad cultural interests. During his early youth, he developed his literary interests which lasted throughout his life. His library consisted of a rich and broad selection of literature in different languages. During the last years of his life, he tried his hand as an author and began writing fiction. Literature was the fourth prize area Nobel mentioned in his will.
The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded by the Swedish Academy, Stockholm, Sweden.
