Minimalist writer Jon Fosse of Norway wins literature Nobel

The writer was selected for the prestigious award for writing that gives voice to the unsayable’

Jon Fosse, a master of spare Nordic prose in a sprawling body of work ranging from plays to novels and children's books, won the Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday for writing that gives "voice to the unsayable".

Fosse's work, rooted in his Norwegian background, "focuses on human insecurity and anxiety," Anders Olsson, chair of the Nobel literature committee, told The Associated Press. "The basic choices you make in life, very elemental stuff."

One of his country's most-performed dramatists, Fosse said he had "cautiously prepared" himself for a decade to receive the news that he had won.

"I was surprised when they called, yet at the same time not," the 64-year-old told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. "It was a great joy for me to get the phone call."

The author of 40 plays as well as novels, short stories, children's books, poetry and essays, Fosse was honoured "for his innovative plays and prose, which give voice to the unsayable," according to the Swedish Academy, which awards the prize.

Fosse has cited the bleak, enigmatic work of Irish writer Samuel Beckett-the 1969 Nobel literature laureate-as an influence on his minimalist style.

Fosse has also taught writing-one of his students was best-selling Norwegian novelist Karl Ove Knausgaard -and consulted on a Norwegian translation of the Bible.