(Paris) The 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Norwegian Jon Fosse, is already widely translated into French, but remains little known to the general public, with nearly twenty titles which have met with modest success.
In France, this playwright benefited from the interest of a major Parisian publisher, POL, who published in 1998 his novel Melancholia I, about the painter Lars Hertervig.
This house, which publishes very little foreign literature, had placed its trust in the Norwegian Terje Sinding, editorial secretary of the Comédie-Française, an institution whose Cahiers POL published.
“Terje Sinding came one day with his translation of a novel that we found exceptional. It became Jon Fosse’s first book in French. Today, we are proud of it,” says POL’s communications director, Jean-Paul Hirsch.
The Norwegian’s prose was then published by Editions Circé, a small Vosges house, for six titles, from Melancholia II in 2002 to Au fall de la nuit in 2016.
“Fosse has two or three titles that are masterpieces, which I am happy to have published. It doesn’t surprise me at all that he received the Nobel Prize,” says Claude Lutz, publisher of this house.
He cites Insomnia (2009), which Circé editions promote by citing the Norwegian press. “You shouldn’t be afraid to read prose that isn’t easy. You have to throw yourself into it,” says the French publisher.
A third house now publishes his prose, Christian Bourgois editions. He began publishing what Jon Fosse called his “septology”. The first volume, L’Autre Nom, was released in September 2021. The second (which will be titled Je est un autre) is planned for 2024 and the third for 2025 or 2026.
“Jon Fosse is a very unique voice, demanding literature. When you let yourself be caught up, wrapped up in his sentence, it’s a unique experience,” explains his editor at Bourgois, Jean Mattern.
This novel is about two painters who live not far from each other, on the Norwegian coast, and share the same first name. “A magnificent exploration of solitude and otherness,” according to Mr. Mattern.
It is currently the only text translated from neo-Norwegian (the variety of Norwegian spoken in western Norway) by the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Coursaud, a specialist in Scandinavian languages.
As for Jon Fosse’s theater, it has been published by a specialized publisher, L’Arche, since a volume bringing together Le Nom and L’Enfant in 1998. This work is now out of print, just like that of 1999 containing one of his masterpieces, Someone is Coming, with The Son.
“Jon Fosse is a living classic and a timeless contemporary. With him, we understand the harshness of the human condition, sensations, essential emotions, such as waiting, fear, desire, loss,” says Claire Stavaux, who directs L’Arche publishing.
They also serve as an agency to have Jon Fosse perform on French stages.
L’Arche published two collections in 2021, with introductions by actresses Isabelle Carré and Irène Jacob, each containing four pieces by Jon Fosse, such as Variations on Death or Rêve d’Automne.