Prizes for “the best in the Nordic Region”
The Nordic Council Literature Prize 2014 went to the Finnish author Kjell Westö for his novel Mirage 38, “the evocative prose of which breathes life into a critical moment in Finland’s history – one that has links to the present day,” as the adjudication committee put it.
The Film Prize went to the Icelandic director and screenwriter Benedikt Erlingsson and the producer Friðrik Þór Friðriksson for "Of Horses and Men" – "an amazing, original film rooted in the laconic humour of the Icelandic saga tradition".
Haakon Øvreås and Øyvind Torseter (illustrator) from Norway were the recipients of the Children and Young People's Literature Prize for the book Brown, which “fills a gap between books for young children and books for teenagers. It is a story with classic elements, but also one that breathes new life into the Norwegian and Nordic tradition of storytelling for children.”
The Music Prize was awarded to the Danish composer Simon Steen-Andersen for Black Box Music, described as “a unique and radically different work. Simon Steen-Andersen plays, with great virtuosity, in the intersection between composition, installation art, electronica and performance.”
The City of Reykjavik won the Nature and Environment Prize to for “its broad and long-term commitment to the environment, and its conscious work with environmentally friendly use of water and the production of district heating and electricity from geothermal energy”.
Last year’s winners presented the five DKK 350,000 prizes at a ceremony in Stockholm City Hall.
The awards ceremony on TV
Swedish Television (SVT) filmed the award ceremony. The hosts – Jessika Gedin and Kristofer Lundström from Babylon and Kobra – interviewed all five winners for the programme Nordens Bästa (Best in the Nordic Region), which will be broadcast on SVT2 on Friday 31 October at 20:00 and then again on Saturday 1 November at 18:00.
It will also be screened by all of the other Nordic public-service broadcasters:
Finland: YLE5 on 31 October at 23:00 (Finnish time) and Monday 3 November at 16:25 (with Finnish subtitles)
Norway: NRK2 on 1 November at 20:00
Denmark: DRK on Sunday 2 November at 20:00
Iceland: RUV on 5 November at 22:20 (Icelandic time).
