Katie Paterson
Future Library manuscript hand over
Future Library Forest
Oslo, Norway
Saturday 25 May 2019
Meet at Frognerseteren station, Nordmarka at 9.45am. (More details below*)
The Man Booker International prize winning South Korean novelist Han Kang will hand over her new manuscript for Future Library on Saturday 25th May, 2019. An intimate ceremony will be held within the Nordmarka Forest, Oslo, to mark this historical occasion.
Visitors can join Han Kang walking through the trees to a clearing filled with one thousand four-year-old spruce saplings: the Future Library forest.
Future Library is a public artwork by Scottish artist Katie Paterson that will unfold over a century in the city of Oslo, Norway. Han Kang is the fifth writer to participate in Future Library. The Canadian author Margaret Atwood was the first author to contribute, followed by British novelist David Mitchell, Icelandic poet, novelist and lyricist Sjón, and Turkish author Elif Shafak.
Join Han Kang as she hands over her manuscript, gives a reading and announces its title. Following the forest ceremony, Han Kang will give a public talk at the Deichmanske Library, Oslo.
"I can’t survive one hundred years from now, of course. No-one who I love can survive, either. This relentless fact has made me reflect on the essential part of my life. Ultimately Future Library deals with the fate of paper books. I would like to pray for the fates of both humans and books. May they survive and embrace each other, in and after one hundred years, even though they couldn’t reach eternity…" Han Kang, 2019
*The hand-over
Han Kang will hand over this year's manuscript for Future Library, and participate in a public walk through the forest, where she will give a reading. Meet at Frognerseteren station, Nordmarka at 9.45am. The walk will take approximately 30 minutes in each direction, and the group will return to the station at around 11.30am. The Future Library forest coordinates are 59°59’10.0” N10°41’48.6” E. The map is downloadable below.
Bring a cup with you. Coffee will be served.
Deichmanske Library
An in-conversation with Han Kang and Rosie Goldsmith will be held in the Deichmanske Library, Oslo at 2pm.
Both events are open to all, and free of charge.
