Viking Magazine - October 2022 - 15

Katie Paterson in the
Nordmarka forest
outside of Oslo.
it on archival paper, place
it in a box and bring
it to " the handover, " a
special ceremony that
takes place at the two
sites integral to the
Future Library. Free and
open to the public, the
ceremony begins with an
approximately 30-minute
walk from Oslo's
northernmost metro stop,
Frognerseteren station,
into the forest. Among the
great sense of comfort the day the
100-year agreement with the City
of Oslo was signed. " It promises
that the Future Library forest will
remain in the hands of the trust for
the next 100 years, protected and
free to grow into the trees on which
the anthologies will be printed in
2114. "
Each year, the trustees mail a
letter to a different author to request
participation, and those who
accept are announced annually.
The writers are chosen not only for
the noteworthy contributions they
have made to the fields of literature
and poetry, but also for their
ability to appeal to present-day and
prospective audiences alike.
There are only a few guidelines
the authors must follow to take
part in the Future Library:
The manuscripts must be
new, unpublished and void of
illustrations, and nothing can be
revealed except the title. Their
pieces will not be edited, and no one
will read them until the entire art
project is complete. Besides that, the
writers-who receive no monetary
compensation for their donated
work-are granted an unlimited
word count, and they can cover any
subject matter they choose, in any
genre.
LAYING THE GROUNDWORK
When an author completes their
manuscript, they are asked to print
@sonsofnorway
trees, the author briefly ddresses
the crowd. From there, the group
moves to the Deichman Bjørvika,
the city's new, award-winning public
library that opened in 2020, for a
question-and-answer event. At that
time, the author's work is secured by
the trust and archived.
The ceremony that took place
this past June doubled as the official
opening of the Future Library's
" Silent Room " in the Deichman
Bjørvika. In this cozy, tranquil
chamber, each manuscript is kept
in individual, locked glass cases-
engraved with each author's name
and the year of their handover-
until their ultimate publication in
2114. The room fits just one or two
people and is meant to encourage
contemplation.
The Silent Room, which was
designed by Paterson alongside
architects Atelier Oslo and Lund
Hagem, is a key part of the Future
Library. Before the project got
underway in 2014, Paterson sought
guidance from foresters at the
Agency of Urban Development,
who have looked after the land for
more than a century, to plant the
1,000 saplings in the Nordmarka
forest. When the spruce, birch and
pine that previously covered the
area was cut down, care was taken
to preserve the wood from the
felled trees. Today, it lines the Silent
Room's undulating walls, while
windows overlook the area of the
very special, " Hovind says. " It was
an emotional moment. "
BRANCHING OUT
To date, the Future Library has
welcomed pieces from eight
authors, all of whom are known
to cover disparate themes with
diverse styles. The fi st to be invited
was Canadian novelist and poet
Margaret Atwood. She's perhaps
best known for her futuristic,
dystopian book, " The Handmaid's
Tale, " which was published in 1985
and in 2017 made into a renowned
TV series on Hulu. Atwood's 2014
manuscript contribution to the
Future Library is titled " Scribbler
Moon. "
The second came from British
author David Mitchell, who's
received acclaim for several books,
including 2004's " Cloud Atlas. "
Mitchell named his 90-page Future
Library offering " From Me Flows
What You Call Time. " After that
was Sjón, a lauded author, poet and
frequent lyrical collaborator with
fellow Icelander and singer Björk.
forest where the new spruce trees
extend to about chest height.
The most recent handover
celebration felt even more powerful
than usual because two writers were
celebrated rather than one, since
the previous two years' events had
been postponed due to the COVID
pandemic.
" I think for the authors it was
Karl Ove Knausgård
and Katie Paterson
October 2022
15
PHOTOS (TOP TO BOTTOM) BY: MJC, KRISTIN VON HIRSCH
Viking Magazine - October 2022

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