Norwegian author and dramatist Jon Fosse has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable”, the award-giving body has announced.
Key points:
- Jon Fosse said the award made him feel “overwhelmed, and somewhat frightened”
- Fosse is the fourth Norwegian writer to receive the Nobel Prize
- The prize is awarded by the Swedish Academy and is worth about $1.5 million
One of his country’s most-performed dramatists, Fosse, 64, has written some 40 plays as well as novels, short stories, children’s books, poetry and essays.
“I am overwhelmed, and somewhat frightened,” Fosse said in a statement.
“I see this as an award to the literature that first and foremost aims to be literature, without other considerations.”
Mats Malm, permanent secretary of the academy, announced the prize in Stockholm on Thursday.
Mr Malm said he reached Fosse by telephone to inform him of the prize and that the writer was driving in the countryside and promised to drive home carefully.
Anders Olsson, chair of the Nobel literature committee, said Fosse’s work was rooted “in the language and nature of his Norwegian background”.
The prize is awarded by the Swedish Academy and is worth 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.5 million.)
Fosse is the fourth Norwegian writer to receive the Nobel.
