Jon Fosse

Jon Fosse was born 1959 in Haugesund on the Norwegian west coast. 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. While he is today one of the most widely performed playwrights in the world, he has also become increasingly recognized for his prose.

The National Library of Norway has a unique Fosse Bibliography. The bibliography offers references to Jon Fosse’s works in original and in translation, journal articles and book chapters, theatre scripts, theatre programs, adaptations based on Fosse’s works, as well as Fosse’s translations and re-writings of other writers’ works.

Jon Fosse, born in 1959, is widely considered one of the most important writers of our time. For almost forty years he has written novels, plays, poems, stories, essays, and children’s books. His award-winning work has been translated into more than fifty languages, and his plays have been staged over a thousand times all over the world.

With a myriad of Fosse titles to choose from, in all genres, we are happy to share a list of titles recommended by his Norwegian publishing house, Det norske Samlaget.

Jon Fosse’s works are available for readers and audiences all over the world. In NORLA, we want to draw attention to some of the around fifty translators who have made that possible. We are proud to present to you our new column “Why I Translate Fosse”!

Jon Fosse’s award-winning work has been translated into more than fifty languages, and many of these are published through translation subsidies from NORLA.
We have collected the book covers of these translations on our Flickr profile.

In 1994, on the 24th of February, the National Stage in Bergen staged the first ever performance of a Jon Fosse play. Thirty years later, his works have been seen in 825 stage productions across the world.

On Thursday December 7th, Jon Fosse, The Nobel Prize laureate in literature 2023, delivered his Nobel Prize lecture at the premises of the Swedish Academy in Börshuset, Gamla stan in Stockhom.
The lecture was held in Nynorsk.

Jon Fosse is the first ever writer of Nynorsk to become a Nobel Prize Laureate in literature. But what is Nynorsk (New Norwegian)?

On the occasion of Jon Fosse being awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Norwegian Government is establishing a new, annual initiative in honour of the author – an annual Fosse lecture, which will be held alongside an event organised by the National Library of Norway, where a Fosse Scholarship will also be awarded. In this way, the Government wants to demonstrate how important Fosse’s literary works are, both for Norway and internationally.

Jon Fosse’s Norwegian publishing house, Det norske Samlaget, has initiated a great series in social media with fans of Fosse sharing their favourite works.
We at NORLA are happy to share some of these posts in English, through our social media.
We invite you to follow our Nobel Prize series “Fans on Fosse”.

In Bergen, Jon Fosse was celebrated with the «Jon Fosse Word by Word» performance, in which all Fosse’s plays (!) were read in one go. The performance was played in front of a live audience, and at the same time broadcast on NRK (The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation).
41 plays, 40 actors and a 40-hour television broadcast!

There are of course a wealth of interviews with Jon Fosse available. We have chosen a few favourites.