Peter Handke’s speech at the Nobel Banquet, 10 December 2019.

This is the first « toast » in my life. In my old english dictionary « to toast » means: to greet, in distance a beautiful lady… »

This is the second time in my life, I address myself to a King and a Queen. The other time I found myself confronted to – Saint Louis, King of France, and his beloved wife, Margareta de Navarra.- But this was in the twelfth century and it was a dream…

Thank you all for your presence.

My wish, my greetings: they go to the WILD GEESE in « Nils Holgerssons underbara resa  genom Sverige » and the wish is : that the geese should in the future, beyond Sweden, also overfly every landscape not only in Europe and so transforme even the smallest country into a world wide one! Selma Lagerlöfs wild geese forever.

Strawberry Fields for ever. Wild Strawberries for ever.