13 different authors are on the list of nominees for the literature prize. The adjudication committee announcement of the winner at a press conference in Oslo on Tuesday 12 April, will signal the start of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Nordic Council Literature Prize.

For the first time, several of the nominees and previous prize winners will be present at the announcement, both during the press conference and during the formal celebration afterwards.

The prize, which was established in 1961 and awarded for the first time in 1962, is the greatest recognition one can receive for a work of fiction in the Nordic countries. Great interest and prestige follows in the wake of the prize which is worth DKK 350,000.

The prize ceremony will take place during the Nordic Council Session in Copenhagen at the start of November.

The Nordic Council’s Literature Prize is given to a novel, a play or a collection of poetry, short stories or essays, which meets high literary and artistic standards. The intention of the prize is to increase interest in the literature and language of the neighbouring countries, as well as in the Nordic cultural community.

A debate, with amongst others the chair of the adjudication committee, Eva Ström and authors Herbjørg Wassmo and Einar Már Guðmundsson, will form the prelude to the announcement of the winner in 2011. The debate, organised by the Nordic Council's Norwegian delegation, will take place in the basement of the House of Literature in Oslo on Monday 11 April 18.00 - 19.30.

To mark the anniversary the Nordic Council has produced a completely new website on the Literature Prize and the previous winners. The website includes a calendar of all the events that will take place during the anniversary, video interviews with previous winners and other interesting information linked to the prize.
www.norden.org/litteraturpris

An exhibition about the prize, which will tour the world in the next year, will also be shown in conjunction with the events in Oslo.

The press conference will take place in the Hamsunsal at Gyldendal in Sehesteds Gate 4 in Oslo. For journalist accreditation, please send your name and media to Silje Bergum Kinsten (siki@norden.org).

Competition

Who will win the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2011? Log on to www.facebook.com/nrlitteraturpris and write who you think will be this year's winner on the wall. We will draw a number of winners, who will receive this year's winning book, from amongst those who guess correctly.

Background information about the 50th anniversary of the Nordic Council Literature Prize

The Literature Prize is a beacon within cultural co-operation in the Nordic countries. Great authors such as Sofi Oksanen, Lars Saabye Christensen, Sjón, Naja Marie Aidt, Per Petterson and Kerstin Ekman have won the prize. These are authors who have achieved broad international recognition and who, with their special Nordic literary works, help to arouse interest in literature in the Nordic countries and autonomous territories.

In 1961, the first works of fiction written in one of the Nordic languages were nominated for the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize, and in 1962 the prize was awarded for the first time. The 50th anniversary of the Literature Prize will last from April 2011 to April 2012.

“The Nordic Council Literature Prize is the greatest prize for an author in our part of the world. There are prizes and prizes, and I have received some, but this ranks highest for me, a great recognition.”
Per Petterson, winner of the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize 2009 for his work ‘Jeg forbanner tidens elv’ (‘I Curse the River of Time’).

”(...) Let us keep words free and strong. But this only works if we defend their freedom I thank the Nordic countries for the wonderful freedom of expression, the freedom to write and the Nordic Council for the honour which this prize implies (...)"
Sofi Oksanen, winner of the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2010 for her work ‘Puhdistus’ (‘Purge’).

Jesper F. Schou-Knudsen
Phone +45 33 96 03 55
Email jsk@norden.org

Silje Bergum Kinsten
Phone +45 33 96 02 51
Email siki@norden.org