Norwegian Playwright Jon Fosse Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature

 

The Nobel Literature Prize was bestowed upon Jon Fosse, a Norwegian playwright, by the Swedish Academy on Thursday. Fosse is renowned for his influential contributions to the world of theater, with his plays being widely performed across Europe.

The Swedish Academy commended Fosse for his groundbreaking plays and prose, which have the ability to articulate the unspoken. His literary style is marked by its emphasis on structure over content, often revealing profound meaning through silence and the cadence of his language.

Drawing comparisons to the likes of Samuel Beckett, Fosse's work is characterized by its minimalistic approach, employing plain language to convey its message through rhythm, melody, and the spaces between words. Notable works by Fosse include "Boathouse" (1989) and "Melancholy" I and II (1995-1996), which garnered acclaim from critics.

Fosse, at the age of 64, had been a subject of Nobel speculation for several years. The Nobel jury highlighted his extensive body of work, encompassing plays, novels, poetry collections, essays, children's books, and translations, all written in Norwegian Nynorsk, one of Norway's written forms of languages.

While Fosse is celebrated as one of the most performed playwrights globally, his achievements in prose have also gained recognition. The Nobel Prize for Literature includes a medal and a monetary award of 11 million Swedish kronor (approximately $1 million).

In the previous year, the Nobel Prize was presented to French feminist icon Annie Ernaux, known for her seemingly straightforward novels rooted in personal experiences related to class and gender.

The Swedish Academy has faced criticism for its historical tendency to favor Western white male authors in its selections. In response to the #MeToo scandal in 2018, the Academy initiated significant reforms to promote a more globally diverse and gender-balanced literature prize. Since then, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to three women—Annie Ernaux, US poet Louise Gluck, and Poland's Olga Tokarczuk—and three men—Austrian author Peter Handke, Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah, and Jon Fosse.

Jon Fosse is scheduled to receive the Nobel Prize from King Carl XVI Gustaf during a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, commemorating the anniversary of scientist Alfred Nobel's death in 1896.