Lesson plan; The Nobel Prize in Literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2023

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2023 is awarded to the Norwegian author Jon Fosse,

“for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable”.

Lesson plan:

  1. Read the information about this year’s winner and write a brief summary of what newspapers around the world write about his work.
  2. The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded 116 times to 120 Nobel Prize laureates between 1901 and 2023. Look through this list and see how many on the list you have.
    • Heard about.
    • Read some of their work.
    • Come from your country.
  3. In which cities are the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Nobel Peace Prize awarded?
  4. Look for reactions when Mr. Dylan, 75, was the first musician to win the award.

    • In choosing a popular musician for the literary world’s highest honor, the Swedish Academy, which awards the prize, dramatically redefined the boundaries of literature, setting off a debate about whether song lyrics have the same artistic value as poetry or novels. Some prominent writers celebrated Mr. Dylan’s literary achievements, including Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates and Salman Rushdie, who called Mr. Dylan “the brilliant inheritor of the bardic tradition,” adding, “Great choice.” The New York Times

Reviews in newspapers around the world.

The Guardian. Jon Fosse’s Nobel prize announces his overdue arrival on the global stage European culture editor.  The critically acclaimed author is the first ever laureate in the prize’s history to write in Nynorsk and his win marks a further step in the Nordic state’s rise as a cultural powerhouse.

Norwegian author Jon Fosse wins Nobel Prize in Literature for ‘innovative plays and prose’; EMILY DELETTER   USA TODAY. The Swedish Academy announced Thursday that the Norwegian author Jon Fosse has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize for Literature “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.” Primarily writing in Norwegian, Fosse’s works have been compiled and translated into English and other languages. The Nobel Prize was awarded for his whole body of work.

CNN — The 2023 Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to Jon Fosse for “his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable,” the Swedish Academy announced in Stockholm on Thursday. Fosse, 64, was born on the west coast of Norway. His work consists of around 40 plays, as well as a number of novels, poetry, essays, children’s books and translations. The committee lauded the author’s style, which has come to be known as “Fosse minimalism.”

“Fosse presents everyday situations that are instantly recognizable in our own lives. His radical reduction of language and dramatic action expresses the most powerful human emotions of anxiety and powerlessness in the simplest terms,” the committee said.

Biobibliography

Jon Fosse was born 1959 in Haugesund on the Norwegian west coast. His immense œuvre, written in Nynorsk and spanning a variety of genres, consists of a wealth of plays, novels, poetry collections, essays, children’s books, and translations. While he is today one of the most widely performed playwrights in the world, he has also become increasingly recognized for his prose. His debut novel Raudt, svart 1983, as rebellious as it was emotionally raw, broached the theme of suicide and, in many ways, set the tone for his later work.

 

I would love to hear from you