Yon Fosse met remotely with Korean readers My book isn’t very interesting…

Last year’s Nobel Prize in Literature… Meet Korean readers through video connection on ‘World Book Day’
“You don’t have to read a book, but it will make you feel life in a more powerful way.”

“I don’t think my works are very interesting books, but I’m so glad that you find comfort in them.

I also read a lot, but I find solace in the sea.

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Jon Fosse (65), a world-renowned Norwegian playwright and novelist who won the Nobel Prize in Literature last year, said this during an online meeting with Korean readers on the 23rd, expressing gratitude to a reader who said that he finds deep comfort in your literature.

He, who divides his time between Austria and Norway, made a video connection at the reading session ‘2024 Sympathy for Reading – Reading John Fosse’ held by the Daesan Cultural Foundation, Kyobo Bookstore, and the Norwegian Embassy in Korea at the Daesan Hall of the Kyobo Building in Gwanghwamun to mark ‘World Book Day’. met readers.

He led the audience in a cheerful and humorous atmosphere throughout, quietly telling Korean readers about his world of literature.

In Fosse’s works, whether plays or novels, the issue of life and death stands out.

The same goes for the novel ‘The Shining’, which was recently translated into Korea.

In this latest work, released shortly after winning the Nobel Prize in Literature last year, the author delicately traces the ambiguous border between life and death through the story of a protagonist who wanders down a dead end road and encounters mysterious beings.

The same goes for the novel ‘Morning and Evening’, which uses only commas rather than periods in sentences, and the serial novels ‘Sleepless People’, ‘Olav’s Dream’, and ‘Sunset’, commonly called a ‘trilogy’.

The living meeting or conversing with the dead is a setting that is not difficult to find in Fosse’s works.

When writer Jeong Yeo-ul, who hosted the ceremony that day, expressed his impression that he was able to overcome his fear of death, even if only for a moment, by reading ‘Morning and Evening’, Fosse said this.

“I don’t think the distance between the living and the dead is that far.

When I wrote ‘Morning and Evening,’ I thought that readers would not become more afraid of death after reading this novel.

Even if you read ‘The Shining’, I don’t think you will become more afraid of death.

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Fosse started out as a poet, published a novel at the age of 23, and entered the path of a full-fledged writer. He also began writing plays to make a living, writing in all directions across three genres: poetry, novels, and plays.

He said that his poetry, novels, and play writing seem to have a positive influence on each other and create synergy.

“I was interested in learning that the device of silence, which has been used in poetry and novels, can be used better in plays.

When I first wrote a play, I was able to apply what I had learned from my previous poetry and novel work, and put everything together to create a new language.

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It is said that a writer’s job is simple.

He said that he usually wakes up early in the morning and writes what he needs to write for the day in the morning.

“I’ve been writing for over 40 years, but one thing that hasn’t changed much is that I write in the morning,” Fosse said. “As soon as I wake up, I write as quickly as possible.

“These days, I start writing at 5 a.m.,” he said.

Among the characteristics of Jon Fosse’s literary world are the quiet atmosphere of silence and the unique sense of musical rhythm that comes from repetition of sentences.

For him, who grew up on the beach and was imbued with the rhythm of the waves, writing is music, and music is writing.

“I have a hard time listening to music when I write.

Writing itself is music.

The music I listen to and the music I write conflict with each other.

So, although I can write in a noisy place, I cannot write with music playing.

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In response to the host’s request to tell Korean readers about the power and charm of reading on World Book Day, the author immediately responded, “If you don’t want to read a book, you don’t have to.

“If you don’t enjoy reading it, just stop reading it halfway through,” he said.

After laughing a lot with the Korean readers, he returned to his serious attitude after a while and added:

“It seems that every great work of literature allows us to see life in a new way and understand it a little better.

I get to experience people other than myself. Traveling can give you these experiences, but reading books will make you feel life in a more powerful way.

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/yunhap news