Norway establishes an international Fosse lecture and scholarship in honor of Jon Fosse

11.12.2023

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Norway has launched the international Fosse lecture and scholarship in honor of Jon Fosse, the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature recipient. The announcement was made during Nobel Prize Week, Dec. 6-12. The National Library of Norway is organizing both the Fosse lecture and scholarship.

The annual residency scholarship in Norway will go to a skilled translator working on Norwegian literature. NORLA (Norwegian Literature Abroad) and the National Library of Norway will select the recipient. The Fosse lecture, featuring a renowned author or similar figure, will be organized by the National Library of Norway ‘in consultation with Jon Fosse’.

“The Fosse Lecture and Fosse Scholarship will annually emphasize the value of literature and drama, placing thought and intellect at the forefront of public discourse,” said National Librarian Aslak Sira Myhre.

Margit Walsø, Director of NORLA, highlighted the global impact of Norwegian literature, praising Fosse’s Nobel Prize as a Nynorsk author.
The initiatives aim to celebrate Fosse’s international stature. His works are available in 44 languages, translated by about 50 individuals. Gina Winje, founder and CEO of Winje Agency, which handles Fosse’s rights, noted the agency has signed almost 100 contracts since the Nobel announcement on Oct. 5.

Hilde Lyng, Chair of The Norwegian Association of Literary Translators, is more skeptical about Fosse’s international success: “Without the translators, Fosse would have been a peripheral author, only read by especially interested Scandinavians and Italian students obsessed with Black Metal,” – she said, as reported in the Aftenposten.