Norwegian writer Jon Fosse wins the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature

The novelist and playwright was announced as the winner of the top prize in literature.

Transcript

00:00 An award for innovative plays and prose that give voice to the unsayable.

00:04 Jan Fosse has won this year's Nobel Prize in Literature.

00:08 At 64, the author is one of Norway's most accomplished playwrights

00:11 and has been waiting for this moment for the last 10 years.

00:14 He has written some 40 plays as well as novels and short stories.

00:18 I've just spoken to Jan Fosse on the phone.

00:22 He was driving on the countryside at Sognefjord, north of Bergen in Norway.

00:28 And we had the opportunity to start speaking about practical matters

00:34 and the Nobel Week in December.

00:37 No, it's not that overwhelming.

00:40 It was unexpected, I can say.

00:43 Even though I've been in discussions since 2013,

00:49 I've kind of realized that it could happen.

00:54 But it's been nine years, and there's been a lot of fuss about it.

01:00 And there hasn't been any prize, so I didn't think there would be any this year either.

01:04 Jan Fosse's work is similar to that of Czech author Franz Kafka,

01:07 but with everyday life situations.

01:09 He has written over 40 plays as well as novels and short stories.

01:13 (whooshing)