Malin Ullgren: You probably write fucking best in the Nordic countries
I just cleaned up on my shelves. Nothing Norwegian has ended up in the book exchange shelf in the basement, unlike one and the other doubled French classics or American who ends the oxygen with unreflected multi -word. Ibsen volumes, old and new translations, fill a good bit. They stand there so stable and broad -backed, as if they knew their value: « Yes, here we who own an unreasonably high percentage of the overall space, more than Strindberg! »
When Jon Fosse was awarded the Nobel Prize this year, it confirmed only known fact: Norway is a tiny country that creates fantastic literature. At DN’s cultural editorial staff, we were not entirely sure which name would follow when the Swedish Academy’s permanent secretary began his presentation with « The Norwegian author … ». It could have been Karl Ove Knausgård, or Dag Solstad. Or, if it had been « the Norwegian … » – it would not have been unreasonable with a prize at the outstanding Vigdis Hjorth.
Jon Fosse thinks there is a certain Norwegian adventure mentality that benefits the literature
The explanations can be many, such as a historical and activist will to write for and about the young nation, as long as pinched by Denmark and Sweden. Later, a partly oil -based and enviable support system for the languages and authors. Or a kind of Norwegian equivalent to the French style ideal Je ne sais quoi – they just have the and the cannot be defined.
Jon Fosse thinks there is a certain Norwegian adventure mentality that benefits literature – maybe?
When Book Saturday asks the question to seven Norwegian writers, the answers are humble and the compliments are sent back across the border, fine enough. But book Saturday’s admiring attitude remains intact – you probably write the best in the Nordic countries. Congratulations with the day!
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