The Name

Jon Fosse The Nobel Prize

Original title: Namnet
Publisher: Samlaget, 1995
Genre: Play

The Name, Jon Fosse’s second play, tells the story of an estranged family forced to live under one roof. A pregnant girl and the father of the child have nowhere to live and are forced to move into her parents’ house. Her parents have met the father-to-be, and don’t yet know about the pregnancy. The Name is a play about the difficulties we have understanding one another and the longing the be cared for by a significant other. By placing seemingly simple characters in critical moments, Fosse’s communicates the common, yet crucial aspects about the modern human condition.

Foreign rights

Argentina – Farber Editorial
Brazilian Portuguese – Fósforo Editora
China – Yilin Press
Croatia – Fidipid
Czechia – The Theatre Institute Prague
France
Germany
India – Star
Italy – Cue Press
Japan – Hayakawa
Latvia
Poland – Agencja Dramatu i Teatru
Portugal – Campo das Letras
Romania – Editura Unitext
Serbia – IPC Media
Slovakia
Slovenia – SNG Nova Gorica
South Korea – Communication Books
Sweden – Faethon
UK – Oberon

Awards

Ibsenprisen, 1996

Jon Fosse

Photo: Agnete Brun

Nobel Prize-winner Jon Fosse (b. 1959), is widely considered one of the most important writers of our time. For almost forty years, he has written novels, plays, poems, stories, essays, and children’s books. His award-winning work has been translated into more than fifty languages and his plays have been staged over a thousand times all over the world.

Jon Fosse grew up in Strandebarm, a small village in the western part of Norway, he now lives in the Grotten, an honorary residence in Oslo, as well as in Hainburg, Austria, and Frekhaug, Norway.

Fosse was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2023 and has received numerous prizes, both in Norway and internationally through the years.