Critically acclaimed Vietnamese American writer and poet Ocean Vuong has been named as the seventh author to contribute to Future Library. Vuong will hand over his manuscript at the annual ceremony in the depths of the Nordmarka forest, in Spring 2021. The text will be stored in a specially designed room at the new public library Deichman Bjørvika, Oslo, until its release in the year 2114.
Katie Paterson says:
“Ocean Vuong writes with a radiance unlike any author I know. Transforming a ‘hurricane of feeling’ into images of pure, startling beauty, he proves language can penetrate deeper than even human touch. Ocean Vuong’s poetry and prose is raw and fearless, capturing the essence of survival. In a year of unprecedented global suffering, we are fortunate to welcome to Future Library this remarkable writer, a leading voice of the young, LBGT+ immigrant experience.”
One thousand trees have been planted in Nordmarka, a forest just outside Oslo, which will supply paper for a special anthology of books to be printed in ninety four years' time. Between now and then, one writer every year will contribute a text, with the writings held in trust, unpublished, until 2114.
The Canadian author Margaret Atwood was the first author to contribute (2014) followed by British novelist David Mitchell (2015), Icelandic poet, novelist and lyricist Sjón (2016), Turkish author and political commentator Elif Shafak (2017), the Man Booker prize winning novelist Han Kang (2018), and soon in a ceremony which is under preparation, Karl Ove Knausgård will deliver his manuscript to the project as the 2019 contributor.
