Meet the winners of the Nordic Council prizes for 2023

The ceremony, which was broadcast live from Oslo, was an evening filled with music, dancing, and five happy winners. The Norwegian Crown Prince and Princess attended along with Nordic ministers, parliamentarians, and industry representatives to celebrate the outstanding efforts of all the nominees.

The Danish film Empire won the film prize, while the environment prize went to Renewcell from Sweden. The literature prize also went to Sweden and Joanna Rubin Dranger for her graphic novel “Ihågkom oss till liv”, while the music prize went to the Finnish folk musician and kantele artist Maija Kauhanen. The Icelandic author Rán Flygenring won the children and young people’s literature prize for the picture book “Eldgos”.

The 2023 Nordic Council Film Prize goes to the Danish film “Empire” by director Frederikke Aspöck, screenwriter Anna Neye, and producers Pernille Munk Skydsgaard, Nina Leidersdorff, and Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen. They have won the prize for a film that is so self-assured and carefully thought out in every detail, and where the filmmakers’ vision shines so unusually clearly through every single frame.

The 2023 Nordic Council Music Prize goes to the folk musician, singer-songwriter, and kantele artist Maija Kauhanen from Finland. Kauhanen is an explosively strong and versatile musician who has carved an impressive international career in a short space of time. She has mastered traditional styles with gusto and skilfully fused them with new effects and soundscapes.

The 2023 Nordic Council Environment Prize goes to Renewcell from Sweden for its groundbreaking solution for recycling and reusing textile waste for use in new clothes and products. Renewcell is the first in the world to have a large-scale industrial process to give old clothes new life by recycling them into fibre mass that can be used to make clothes and other products from recycled textile material.

The 2023 Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize goes to “Eldgos” by Rán Flygenring from Iceland. Rán Flygenring has created an explosively visual picture book about how wild and uncontrollable nature affects humans. The images and text are skilfully woven into a playful and humorous story that’s bursting with power.

Swedish author Joanna Rubin Dranger has won the 2023 Nordic Council Literature Prize for her graphic novel “Ihågkom oss till liv”. It is an overwhelming and important work depicting how wordless trauma can be tackled and the silence finally broken. The dead come to life when we remember them, say their name, and recreate their image.

The Nordic Council awards five prizes each year – for literature, film, music, the environment, and children’s and young people’s literature. The winners each receive DKK 300 000 along with the Nordlys statuette, which is awarded at an awards ceremony in connection with the annual Session of the Nordic Council.