(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 his novel in 1998 Melancholia Ion 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, since Melancholia II in 2002 until At nightfall 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 quotes 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, The Other Namewas released in September 2021. The second (which will be called I am another) 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 publisher 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 the theater of Jon Fosse, it is published by a specialized publisher, L’Arche, from a volume bringing together The name And The Child in 1998. This work is now out of print, as is the 1999 work containing one of his masterpieces, Someone will comewith The son.
“Jon Fosse is a living classic and a timeless contemporary. With it, we understand the harshness of the human condition, sensations, essential emotions, such as waiting, fear, desire, loss,” estimates Claire Stavaux, who directs L’Arche publishing.
These 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 Autumn dream.