OSLO – Norwegian author Jon Fosse is an all-rounder whose writing is defined more by form than content — what is not said is often more revealing than what is.
Fosse — a novelist, essayist, poet and children’s author but who is best known as a playwright — won the Nobel prize in literature on Thursday.
His dramatic works may not be easily accessible, but they are nonetheless among the most widely staged of any contemporary playwright in Europe.
Born among the fjords of western Norway, Fosse is usually seen clad in black with a few days’ stubble.
He grew up in a family which followed a strict form of Lutheranism and rebelled by playing in a band and declaring himself an atheist. The 64-year-old ended up converting to Catholicism in 2013.
After studying literature, he made his debut in 1983 with the novel “Red, Black” which moves back and forth in time and between…
