John Foss wins the Nobel Prize in Literature

Writer and playwright John Fosse (63 years old) is the winner of the most important literary award in the world.

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– I am overwhelmed, extremely happy and grateful, says John Foss in a short comment – provided by the publisher.

According to Mads Malm, John Vos was sitting in the car on the road along the Sognefjord when he received the good news.

– He was driving along the Sognefjord when I called him, says Malm.

But at 1pm today, John Vos was at his home in Vrykhoj near Bergen when the Swedish Academy announced the award in Stockholm at 1pm.

John Foss said in a press statement that he sees this award as an award for literature that will be literature in the first place – without taking any other considerations into account.

-And not least, I chose to see the award as a prize for Nynorsk and the destination Nynorsk. Whether I want it or not, in the name of truth I must thank Nynorsk for the award, he said in the press release.

In 2021, Fosse completed his critically acclaimed novel “Septology.” The final volume, “Eit nytt namn”, received a roll of the dice of 6 at VG, and in February of last year Fosse received critical notice for the entire work at New York times.

Check out VG’s Dice Throw 6 review: Obsessive Fosse finish!

Last year it was writer Annie Ernault who won the Nobel Prize.

Get ten million

Not only is the Nobel Prize the most generous honor an author can boast, but this distinction also entails a financial sum of ten million Swedish krona (2020).

Three Norwegian authors have won the Nobel Prize in Literature since the first award was awarded in 1901: Björnstern Björnsson in 1903, Knut Hamsun in 1920, and Sigrid Undset in 1928.

It has been 95 years since the award last went to Norway.

Naturally, Det Norske Samlaget’s publishing director, Edmund Østegaard, is very proud today.

– Since Voss’s literary beginnings with the novel “Raudt, svart” in 1983, we at Det Norske Samlaget have been able to pursue productive writing that has developed and expanded significantly, he tells VG.

Østegaard points out that Fosse has long been the greatest contemporary playwright, and that, especially with the Trilogy and Septology, he also became an international name as a novelist.

– It has witnessed a global boom that is unparalleled in contemporary literature, says the publishing director.

Fosse has won and previously been nominated for a number of Norwegian and international awards. Among other things, he won the Nordic Council Literary Prize and the Prague Prize.

He has been nominated twice for the International Booker Prize. Last year, he was a “finalist,” the so-called shortlist, for this award as one of six authors.

Last year, John Foss was also one of five other finalists National Book Awards For literature sold in the United States.

Fosse’s books have been translated into more than 50 languages, and the play has been performed in more than 1,000 theaters worldwide.