The Nobel prize-2023 in literature has been awarded to 64-year-old Norwegian author Jon Fosse “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable”.
His works include the Septology series of novels, Aliss at the Fire, Melancholy and A Shining, reports The Guardian.
“Jon Fosse huge oeuvre, spanning a variety of genres, comprises around 40 plays and a wealth of novels, poetry collections, essays, children’s books and translations,” said Anders Olsson, chairman of the Nobel committee for literature.
“Fosse blends a rootedness in the language and nature of his Norwegian background with artistic techniques in the wake of modernism,” he said.
Born in 1959 in Haugesund on the west coast of Norway, Fosse grew up in Strandebarm. Aged seven, he nearly died in an accident, which he said was “the most important experience” of his childhood and one that “created” him as an artist.
In his adolescence, he aspired to be a rock guitarist, before turning his ambitions to writing.
Jon Fosse’s debut novel, Raudt, svart (“Red, Black”), was published in 1983.
His first play to be performed, Og aldri skal vi skiljast (“And Never Shall We Part”), was staged at the National Theater in Bergen in 1994. Yet, the first play he wrote, Nokon kjem til å komme (“Someone Is Going to Come”), would lead to his breakthrough in 1999 when French director Claude Régy staged it in Nanterre.
He has written more than 30 plays, including Namnet (“The Name”), Vinter (“Winter”) and Ein sommars dag (“A Summer’s Day”). His longer works include the Septology trilogy, the third volume of which was shortlisted for the international Booker prize in 2022.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
