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Laurie Anderson's next manuscript will stay sealed in an Oslo library until 2114

The American artist Laurie Anderson will be the 13th contributor to the Future Library, a project that collects one secret manuscript a year and keeps them unread until 2114, The Guardian reported on August 29. The texts are stored in a silent room in Oslo's Deichman Bjørvika public library. At the end, they will be printed as an anthology on paper made from 1,000 spruce trees that artist Katie Paterson planted in the Nordmarka forest in 2014.

Anderson, a musician, composer, director and visual artist with ten books and a Grammy to her name, joins writers including Margaret Atwood, Han Kang, Ocean Vuong, David Mitchell, Elif Shafak and, most recently, Amitav Ghosh. Paterson said the work may be a text, a score, a set of instructions or “something for which we do not yet have a name”.

“I’m hoping to be able to write something useful about love for the people who will read this in 2114” — Laurie Anderson, via The Guardian

Anderson explained her link to the idea through a childhood memory: her mother hid chocolate bars in the fork of a big red oak in a park near the library, which gave the children “extra incentive” to go there. The Line of Best Fit, a music site, led with that story and Paterson's line that Anderson “has spent a lifetime sending signals into the unknown”.

How each outlet framed it

• The Guardian — the project's mechanics, its roster and the trust's reasons.
• The Line of Best Fit — a music-world angle on a long-distance message.

What we don't know yet: When Anderson will hand over her manuscript. Under a 2022 agreement, the City of Oslo keeps the forest with the Future Library Trust for the length of the project.