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Jon Fosse

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Jon Fosse

Aliases: Jon Olav Fosse

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1959-09-29 (Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway)
Nationality
Norway
Languages
Norwegian (Nynorsk)
Religion
Catholicism Baptized in 2013
Residence History
Strandebarm → Bergen → Oslo (Grotten) → Hainburg an der Donau, Austria

Career

Occupations
Playwright, Novelist, Poet, Translator
Active Years
1983-
Affiliations
Grotten, Royal Palace, Oslo
Influenced By
Samuel Beckett, Georg Trakl, Thomas Bernhard, Tarjei Vesaas, Knut Hamsun, Franz Kafka
Influenced
Henrik Ibsen
Nominations
International Booker Prize shortlist (A New Name: Septology VI-VII), National Book Critics Circle Award finalist

Education

University of Bergen
Comparative Literature
Degree: MA
Year of Graduation: 1987
Country: Norway
BA also obtained

Awards

Nobel Prize in Literature
2023
Organization: Swedish Academy
Result: Winner
Nordic Council's Literature Prize
2015
Work: Andvake / Olavs draumar / Kveldsvævd
Organization: Nordic Council
Result: Winner
Ibsen Prize
1996
Result: Winner
Brage Prize
2005
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Septology

2022 Novel

A seven-part novel following painter Asle's introspective journey, exploring faith, identity, and the doppelgänger.

SilenceFaithIdentity
Translations
  • Trans. Damion Searls

Bibliography

  • Raudt, svart (1983)
  • Stengd gitar (1985)
  • Septology (2022)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
MinimalismLyrical proseUnorthodox syntax
Recurring Motifs
The unsayableSilenceAnxietyDivineVestlandet

Health

  • Childhood accident
    7歳時
    Near-death experience of light and peace, formative for writing
  • Alcoholism
    長期~2012-2013
    Rehab, conversion to Catholicism aided recovery

Legacy

2023 Nobel Laureate in Literature. Most performed Norwegian playwright after Ibsen. Works translated into 50+ languages.

Museums

  • Fosse Foundation Strandebarm

In Popular Culture

  • Mural in Haugesund

Quotes

  • The Silent Language
    Source: Nobel Lecture (2023)

Trivia

  • First Nynorsk writer to win Nobel
  • 4th Norwegian Nobel laureate in Literature
  • Catholic convert