© Tom Kolstad/Samlaget
Jon Fosse
Born in 1959 in Strandebarm, in Vestland, western Norway, Jon Fosse’s remarkably prolific career began in 1983 with his first novel, Red, Black, and since then he has published numerous novels, stories, books of poetry, children’s books, and essay collections. He began writing plays in 1993, with Someone Is Going to Come, and since then he has written almost thirty plays, including A Summer’s Day, Dream of Autumn, Death Variations, Sleep, and I Am the Wind.
Since the mid-nineties his plays have had unparalleled international success, being performed over a thousand times all over the world; his works have been translated into more than fifty languages. Today Fosse is one of the most performed living playwrights, but he has continued to write novels, stories, and poetry of exceptional quality. In 2015 he received the Nordic Council Literature Prize for his work Trilogy, consisting of Wakefulness, Olav’s Dreams, and Weariness. Fosse’s earlier novels Melancholy I and II, Morning and Evening, and Aliss at the Fire have also received wide critical acclaim.
Fosse received the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature, and has been awarded numerous prizes both in Norway and abroad. The three books that comprise his magnum opus, Septology—The Other Name, I is Another, and A New Name—are published by Transit Books.
Titles by Jon Fosse
JON FOSSE
Translated from the Norwegian by Damion Searls
WINNER OF THE 2023 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
International Booker Prize, Finalist
National Book Award, Finalist
National Book Critics Circle Award, Finalist
Selected as one of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century by The New York Times
What makes us who we are? And why do we lead one life and not another? Asle, an aging painter and widower who lives alone on the southwest coast of Norway, is reminiscing about his life. His only friends are his neighbor, Åsleik, a traditional fisherman-farmer, and Beyer, a gallerist who lives in the city. There, in Bjørgvin, lives another Asle, also a painter but lonely and consumed by alcohol. Asle and Asle are doppelgängers—two versions of the same person, two versions of the same life, both grappling with existential questions about death, love, light and shadow, faith and hopelessness.
The three volumes of Jon Fosse’s Septology—The Other Name, I is Another, and A New Name—are a transcendent exploration of the human condition, and a radically other reading experience—incantatory, hypnotic, and utterly unique.
JON FOSSE
Translated from the Norwegian by Damion Searls
New York Times Editors’ Choice
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 NATIONAL TRANSLATION AWARD
Septology named one of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century by The New York Times
The Other Name follows the lives of two men living close to each other on the west coast of Norway. The year is coming to a close and Asle, an aging painter and widower, is reminiscing about his life. He lives alone, his only friends being his neighbor, Åsleik, a bachelor and traditional Norwegian fisherman-farmer, and Beyer, a gallerist who lives in Bjørgvin, a couple hours’ drive south of Dylgja, where he lives. There, in Bjørgvin, lives another Asle, also a painter. He and the narrator are doppelgangers—two versions of the same person, two versions of the same life.
Written in hypnotic prose that shifts between the first and third person, The Other Name calls into question concrete notions around subjectivity and the self. What makes us who we are? And why do we lead one life and not another? Through flashbacks, Fosse deftly explores the convergences and divergences in the lives of both Asles, slowly building towards a decisive encounter between them both. A writer at the zenith of his career, with The Other Name, the first two volumes in his Septology, Fosse presents us with an indelible and poignant exploration of the human condition that will endure as his masterpiece.
JON FOSSE
Translated from the Norwegian by Damion Searls
New York Times Editors’ Choice
Septology named one of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century by The New York Times
Asle is an aging painter and widower who lives alone on the west coast of Norway. His only friends are his neighbor, Åsleik, a traditional fisherman-farmer, and Beyer, a gallerist who lives in the city. There, in Bjørgvin, lives another Asle, also a painter but lonely and consumed by alcohol. Asle and Asle are doppelgängers—two versions of the same person, two versions of the same life.
In this second installment of Jon Fosse’s Septology, “a major work of Scandinavian fiction” (Hari Kunzru), the two Asles meet for the first time in their youth. They look strangely alike, dress identically, and both want to be painters. At art school in Bjørgvin, Asle meets and falls in love with his future wife, Ales. Written in melodious and hypnotic “slow prose,” I is Another: Septology III-V is an exquisite metaphysical novel about love, art, God, friendship, and the passage of time.
JON FOSSE
Translated from the Norwegian by Damion Searls
2022 International Booker Prize, Finalist
2022 National Book Award, Finalist
New York Times Editors’ Choice
Septology named one of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century by The New York Times
Asle is an aging painter and widower who lives alone on the west coast of Norway. His only friends are his neighbor, Åsleik, a traditional fisherman-farmer, and Beyer, a gallerist who lives in the city. There, in Bjørgvin, lives another Asle, also a painter but lonely and consumed by alcohol. Asle and Asle are doppelgängers—two versions of the same person, two versions of the same life.
In this final installment of Jon Fosse’s Septology, “a major work of Scandinavian fiction” (Hari Kunzru), we follow the lives of the two Asles as younger adults in flashbacks: the narrator meets his lifelong love, Ales; joins the Catholic Church; and makes a living by trying to paint away all the pictures stuck in his mind. A New Name: Septology VI-VII is a transcendent exploration of the human condition, and a radically other reading experience—incantatory, hypnotic, and utterly unique.
JON FOSSE
Translated from the Norwegian by Damion Searls
WINNER OF THE 2023 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
The essential lecture delivered by the 2023 Nobel Laureate in Literature, published for the first time in a collectible edition.
“If there’s any metaphor I would use for the act of writing, it would have to be listening,” says Jon Fosse in A Silent Language, the lecture he delivered after being awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature. When he writes, Fosse explains, he listens for texts that exist somewhere outside of himself in order to transcribe them before they disappear. With reverence and humility, Fosse traces his relationship to writing and celebrates the capacity of language to embrace the mystery, complexity, and existential uncertainty of the human experience. “It is only in the silence that you can hear God’s voice,” he says, offering a key to his beloved works of drama and fiction. “Maybe.”