The Nobel Prize for Literature has been running annually since 1901 and has awarded 116 prizes in total. Held in Stockholm, Sweden, and broadcast live, the prize is said to be given to those who “in the field of literature, produced the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction.” This prize is one of 5 that are presented each year in early October. Announced Thursday, October 5th, Jon Fosse won “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.”
Writing in Norwegian Nynorsk, Fosse works on anything from children’s books and translations to plays, novels, and poetry. Fosse is widely recognized as one of the most performed playwrights of all time. Known for his slow, unique prose, he is said to tackle “birth, death, faith and the other “elemental stuff.”
Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach
(picture on nobelprize.org)