And that’s all for today! Thank you for joining us for the liveblog. You can read the full story by Ella Creamer here.
The Nobel peace prize will be announced tomorrow at 10am BST (11:00 CEST).
Literary critic Catherine Taylor says: “Reading Jon Fosse’s work is a profound experience, deeply spiritual, not to say religious. Fosse has claimed that ‘actually we’re longing for God, because the human being is a continuous prayer’ – and whether that’s true or not, his books are nothing short of miraculous.”
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Jon Fosse’s previous awards
Fosse was already a decorated writer before receiving the Nobel. In 2003 he was made a chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite of France, and he won the Swedish Academy Nordic prize in 2007. In 2010 he, fittingly, won the Ibsen award – he has been called the “new Henrik Ibsen”. He was also given the European prize for literature in 2014.
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In Norway, Fosse is so well-known that there is an International Fosse festival in Oslo, a biennial event that took place for the third time in summer 2023.
He also has an official residence in Oslo, courtesy of Norway’s royal family. “It’s part of the palace. To be absolutely honest, I didn’t really want it. But they convinced me” he told Andrew Dickson in 2014.
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Here’s Catherine Taylor’s review of Fosse’s 2019 The Other Name: Septology I-II, the first instalment of the author’s three-volume septet, featuring not a single full stop throughout.
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Tell us what you think of this year’s winner!
This year’s literature laureate Jon Fosse writes novels heavily pared down to a style that has come to be known as ‘Fosse minimalism’.
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 5, 2023
This can be seen in his second novel ‘Stengd gitar’ (1985), when Fosse presents us with a harrowing variation on one of his major themes, the… pic.twitter.com/5v1fQ6C6CJ
Read more about the “little publisher that could” here:
It’s another win for Fosse’s UK publisher Fitzcarraldo, who now have an astonishing four Nobels. The independent publisher tweeted that it was “utterly thrilled”:
🎉 WOW 🎉 We are utterly thrilled to discover that Jon Fosse has won the @NobelPrize in Literature! 🎉 https://t.co/Z79NXEGnNY
— Fitzcarraldo Editions (@FitzcarraldoEds) October 5, 2023
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Read Andrew Dickson’s 2014 interview with Fosse here:
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Who is Jon Fosse?
Born in Haugesund, Norway, in 1959, a serious accident at seven years old has had a big impact on the author’s writing as an adult. He is one of Europe’s most-performed playwrights, and his sparse, Pinteresque dramas have led to him being tipped for the Nobel year after year.
His first novel, Raudt, svart (Red, Black), was published in 1983, although he considers a short story Han (He), published in a student newspaper in 1981, to be his literary debut. His breakthrough as an writer came with the 1989 novel Naustet (Boathouse).
He then went on to write his first play in 1992: Nokon kjem til å kome (Someone Is Going to Come). While this was the first play Fosse wrote, Og aldri skal vi skiljast (And Never Shall We Part) was the first to be performed, at the National Theater in Bergen in 1994.
40 years since he started writing, Fosse has now been recognised by the Nobel committee “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable”.
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Olsson says Fosse “blends a rootedness in the language and nature of his Norwegian background”.
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Facts and figures
115 Nobel prizes in literature have been awarded since 1901. The prize was often not administered during the first and second world wars – no prizes were awarded in 1914, 1918, 1935, 1940, 1941, 1942, and 1943.
On four occasions, the prize has been shared, but this hasn’t happened for nearly 50 years. Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson last shared the prize in 1974.
The youngest Nobel literature laureate was Rudyard Kipling, who was 41 when he was awarded the 1907 prize. The oldest was Doris Lessing, who was 88 when she was made laureate in 2007.
Last year, French writer Annie Ernaux became the 17th woman to win the Nobel prize in literature. Selma Lagerlöf was the first woman to be honoured in 1909.
Two people have declined the prize: Jean-Paul Sartre in 1964 (he consistently declined all official honours), and Boris Pasternak in 1958, who first accepted it but was “later caused by the authorities of his country (Soviet Union) to decline the prize”.
Nobody has been awarded the prize more than once, and from 1974, it was no longer allowed to be awarded posthumously.
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The winner is Jon Fosse
The Norwegian author has been announced as this year’s Nobel literature laureate.
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Not long now! The audience has been asked to switch their phones off ready for Mats Malm, the permanent secretary of the Nobel Committee, to annoucne this year’s prize, before Anders Olsson, chair of the Nobel committee, awards the prize.
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The livestream has started
It begins! You can watch the live announcement here:
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Historian Olivette Otele is making the case for 89-year-old French writer Maryse Condé
Can they finally give Maryse Condé the Literature Nobel Prize please?
— Historian (@OlivetteOtele) October 5, 2023
It's long overdue!
Sneak peek! We're setting up for the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature.
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 5, 2023
In just a few minutes, this year's prize will be revealed. We'll be streaming the news live on our social channels and website.#NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/ZbPt4FNHpm
Possible contender: Salman Rushdie
After Salman Rushdie survived a knife attack while on stage in New York state in August 2022, many hoped he would become the next Nobel laureate in literature. “As a literary artist, Rushdie is richly deserving of the Nobel, and the case is only augmented by his role as an uncompromising defender of freedom and a symbol of resiliency,” wrote David Remnick in the New Yorker.
The Indian-born British-American author has written more than a dozen novels, often set on the Indian subcontinent. He has been shortlisted for the Booker prize five times, and won it in 1981 with Midnight’s Children. The novel went on to win the Booker of Bookers twice: once in 1994 and again in 2008.
Last year’s attack occurred 33 years after Iran delivered a fatwa calling for the novelist’s death in response to the publication of The Satanic Verses.
Possible contender: Margaret Atwood
We may see Margaret Atwood become the new Nobel laureate in literature today. The 83-year-old Canadian author has written more than 50 works of fiction and non-fiction, including The Handmaid’s Tale, Oryx and Crake and The Blind Assassin, for which she won the 2000 Booker prize. Her 2019 novel The Testaments co-won the Booker prize after judges flouted the competition’s rules and named two winners (Bernardine Evaristo shared the £50,000 prize).
Atwood probes themes of sexual politics, Canadian identity, environment and morality in her writing. Several of her works – often gothic and speculative in style – have been adapted for film, TV and the stage.
When Kazuo Ishiguro won the Nobel in 2017, he said: “I apologise to Margaret Atwood that it’s not her getting this prize. I genuinely thought she would win it very soon. I never for a moment thought I would. I always thought it would be Margaret Atwood very soon; and I still think that, I still hope that.”
"All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you. "
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 5, 2023
- Ernest Hemingway, 1954 #NobelPrize in Literature pic.twitter.com/b0Xewdjtez
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Possible contender: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
85-year-old Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has long been considered a likely candidate for the Nobel prize. Born in 1938, he grew up during the Mau Mau uprising, a movement that formed the backdrop to his first novel, Weep Not, Child, which was the first East African novel published in English. He has gone on to publish many novels, plays and non-fiction books.
His short fable, The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright, was originally written in Gikuyu and became the most translated story in the history of African literature. He was shortlisted for the International Booker prize in 2009 for his body of work and longlisted in 2021 for The Perfect Nine.
In 1977, Ngũgĩ co-authored a play, I Will Marry When I Want, for which he was imprisoned for a year. Soon after, he fled into exile in the UK, and then to the US.
We asked some of critics their predictions for today’s prize announcement. Fiction reviewer Sana Goyal said:
“I’d love for the Nobel to actually surprise me – by awarding a crowd favourite, such as Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o or Can Xue. Or by doing something that shows their intent to move in an ‘ideal direction’, and changing things up – like giving it to an author-translator duo like Don Mee Choi and Kim Hyesoon.”
This video of Doris Lessing finding out she won gets shared every year on Nobel day, and it’s still just as hilarious
As it is #NobelPrize day for Literature , time to post the best ever reaction to hearing you’ve won, by Doris Lessingpic.twitter.com/IU50xp0Vvj
— Jonny Geller (@JonnyGeller) October 5, 2023
Can Xue remains bookies’ favourite, but Mircea Cărtărescu getting more bets
Ladbrokes’ odds remain largely unchanged from yesterday, with the top contenders being Can Xue (8/1), Haruki Murakami (12/1), Mircea Cărtărescu (12/1), Gerald Murnane (14/1) and László Krasznahorkai (14/1).
However, Romanian novelist Cărtărescu is getting the most bets, obtaining 13.6% of all bets placed. “Can Xue has headed the betting for the last few days, but the popularity charts – in terms of bets placed – actually tell a different story, with Mircea Cărtărescu leading the way on that front,” said Alex Apati of Ladbrokes.
“If there is to be something of an upset on the cards, the latest figures suggest it’ll come from Don DeLillo who, despite being a 20/1 shot, is the second most popular pick with punters,” added Apati. The American novelist has attracted 11.6% of all bets placed.
Can Xue comes in third, garnering 8.3% of bets, followed by Krasznahorkai (8.1%) and Jon Fosse (7.4%, odds of 16/1).
Last year, French writer Annie Ernaux was named laureate. To find out more about the author of A Man’s Place and Happening, read Sinéad Gleeson’s guide to her work here:
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How it works
The new Nobel laureate in literature will be announced today, but getting to this point is a lengthy process.
First, the Nobel committee sends out invitations to hundreds of people qualified to nominate writers, including:
Members of the Swedish Academy and of other academies, institutions and societies which are similar to it in construction and purpose
Professors of literature and of linguistics at universities and university colleges
Previous Nobel prize laureates in literature
Presidents of those societies of authors that are representative of the literary production in their respective countries.
Details of the nominees cannot be revealed until 50 years later. The nominations are reviewed by the committee, which selects 15-20 names for consideration by the Swedish Academy, the 18-member body responsible for selecting the laureates.
The committee whittles the list down to five names, and the Academy takes a couple of months reading through the works of the finalists. In September, the Academy confers and by the beginning of October the winner is chosen. A candidate must receive more than half the votes cast.
What are European commentators saying?
If there is one thing European newspapers can agree on during “the most unpredictable day of the literary year” (Le Point), it is that guessing the winner of the Nobel prize in literature is a fool’s game.
“Over the last 10 years, the Stockholm jury has cultivated a reputation for unpredictability”, wrote German broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk, noting that over the past 10 years, the prize had been awarded to five men and five women, from Europe, America and Africa.
If there was any consistent pattern at all, wrote Leipziger Volkszeitung, “it’s that it’s always the same ones who don’t get it”, nodding to Margaret Atwood, Haruki Murakami and Thomas Pynchon.
Most European commentators agree it will be another continent’s turn this year, after Europeans scooped six of the last 10 prizes. But some countries have got their hopes up nonetheless.
Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse is a strong bookie’s favourite again this year, causing some wry amusement among Swedish commentators: “In Norway they seem to be ready with the champagne every year”, wrote Aftonbladet newspaper, in a wry dig at its wealthy Nordic neighbour. Asked about this year’s likely winner in Swedish newspaper Expressen, critic Agri Ismaïl proposed that Australian novelist Gerald Murnane would be “a worthy choice but still not too obvious like, for example, Jon Fosse would be.”
Hungarian writers László Krasznahorkai and Péter Nádas are perennial Nobel contenders. With the former, a novelist and screenwriter, given 14/1 odds by Ladbrokes, some Hungarian commentators have dared to hope. “Literature Nobel within reach for the Hungarian master of the apocalypse”, wrote Hungary Today.
Bence Sárközy, director of publishing house Libri, has tried to calm the waves, arguing that the bookies’ lists were “mostly pure speculation, since this has no significance when the Nobel prize in literature is awarded”. “The most important thing we know is that we know nothing”, he told website Index.
Krasznahorkai commented on the speculation around his name in his own cryptic way. On Wednesday, the 69-year-old posted a link to a song from the Hungarian rock opera István, a Király on his Facebook page. The name of the song? Te Kit Száltanál, “Who would you choose?”
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Who is Can Xue, the bookies’ favourite to win?
Ladbrokes has 70-year-old Chinese author Can Xue leading the pack with 8/1 odds of a win. Can Xue is a pseudonym that in Chinese means “residual snow” – a phrase that the writer said is used to describe both “the dirty snow that refuses to melt” and “the purest snow at the top of a high mountain”. The writer’s real name is Deng Xiaohua, and she was born in 1953 in Changsha a city in the Hunan Province. During the Cultural Revolution, her parents were condemned as rightists by the Communist party and forced into manual labour in the countryside. She only graduated from elementary school and is largely self-taught.
Can Xue writes experimental short stories and novels. She has twice been longlisted for the International Booker prize, first for her novel Love in the New Millennium (translated by Annelise Finegan Wasmoen) and then for her short story collection I Live in the Slums (translated by Karen Gernant and Chen Zeping). If she takes home the Nobel today, she will be the 18th woman to win the prize and the second Chinese resident, after Mo Yan was honoured in 2012.
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Today the world will find out who this year's literature laureate is.
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 5, 2023
Who do you think will be awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature?
Stay tuned - we'll be breaking the news soon.
Watch live: https://t.co/fokVRoUYXv#NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/9iHulNLt56
Welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Nobel prize in literature, which should be awarded to “the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction”, according to the will of Alfred Nobel.
This year’s winner will be announced at 12pm BST (1pm CEST). Could it be Chinese avant garde author Can Xue, who is bookmaker Ladbrokes’ favourite, with 8/1 odds of winning? Or might it go to Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Margaret Atwood or Haruki Murakami – all names that come up in conversations about the Nobel every year?
Join my colleagues Ella Creamer, Philip Oltermann and me for the next hour or so as we post updates, trivia and speculation about the 2023 prize.
