Jon Fosse

STOCKHOLM — The Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to Norwegian writer Jon Fosse for "his innovative plays and prose, which give voice to the unsayable", according to the Swedish Academy.

One of his country's most-performed dramatists, Fosse, 64, has written nearly 40 plays as well as novels, short stories, children's books, poetry and essays.

Mats Malm, permanent secretary of the academy, announced the prize on Thursday in Stockholm. Malm said he reached Fosse by telephone to inform him of the prize and that the writer was driving in the countryside and promised to drive home carefully.

Anders Olsson, chair of the Nobel literature committee, said Fosse's work is rooted "in the language and nature of his Norwegian background".

The Nobel Prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million). Winners also receive an 18-carat gold medal and diploma at the award ceremonies in December.

Established in the will of Swedish dynamite inventor and business owner Alfred Nobel, the prizes for achievements in literature, science and peace have been awarded since 1901, becoming a career pinnacle in the fields. The economics prize is a later addition established by the Swedish central bank.

Alongside the peace prize, literature has often drawn the most attention, thrusting lesser known authors into the global spotlight as well as lifting book sales for well-established literary superstars.

Over the years, the literature prize has also picked winners well beyond the novelist tradition, including playwrights, historians, philosophers and poets, even breaking new ground with the award to singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in 2016.

Last year's Nobel was won by one of the main favorites, author Annie Ernaux, for her largely autobiographical books examining memory and social inequality, making her the first French woman to win the world's most prestigious literary award.