In 2014, artist Katie Paterson set out to create a living artwork that would unfold over the course of a century. She called it Future Library. The project began with the planting of 1,000 trees in a forest just outside Oslo, Norway. From there, the plan was this: each year, for the next hundred years, an author would be invited to contribute a secret manuscript. These works would then be locked away, sealed and unread, until 2114, when they’ll finally be published as a collection —printed on paper made from those very same trees planted at the start.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of this extraordinary project, I revisit highlights from a 2018 conversation with Anne Beate Hovind, curator of Future Library and Chairwoman of the Future Library Trust. You’ll also hear from Katie Paterson herself in a recent interview I recorded in April 2024.
In our conversation, we discuss the origins of Future Library, the lost art of keeping a secret, and the challenges of selecting a title meant to stand the test of time. Katie also offers some insight into the design process behind the Silent Room—the dedicated space on the top floor of Oslo’s Deichman Library, where the manuscripts are kept— and reflects on what it has been like to guide Future Library through its first decade, offering a glimpse into her hopes for the project as it continues to grow, both literally and metaphorically, into a lasting legacy that will inspire generations to come.
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So far, a remarkable lineup of authors have contributed to Future Library, each with a unique manuscript destined to remain sealed until 2114. The titles include:
2014 – Margaret Atwood, Scribbler Moon
2015 – David Mitchell, From Me Flows What You Call Time
2016 – Sjón, As My Brow Brushes On The Tunics Of Angels or The Drop Tower, the Roller Coaster, the Whirling Cups and other Instruments of Worship from the Post-Industrial Age
2017 – Elif Shafak, The Last Taboo
2018 – Han Kang, Dear Son, My Beloved
2019 – Karl Ove Knausgård, Blind Book
2020 – Ocean Vuong, King Philip
2021 – Tsitsi Dangarembga, Narini and Her Donkey
2022 – Judith Schalansky, Fluff and Splinters: A Chronicle
2023 – Valeria Luiselli, The Force of Resonance
2024 – Tommy Orange (manuscript handover due in 2025)
Discover more about Future Library at futurelibrary.no
Curious about Katie’s book, A Place That Exists Only in Moonlight? Visit her website for more details.
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Curious Neighbours is an uncommon collection of stories from the Nordics, captured with the kind of special curiosity only outsiders have the fortune of knowing.
The podcast is hosted and produced by Gus Guerrero.
Executive Producer, Katrine Garcia Madsbjerg.
Visuals by Louis Montes.
Music by Psyche, courtesy of Four Flies Records.
Special thanks to Anne Beate Hovind and Katie Paterson.
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