Last year, Sara Lundberg won the children’s and young adult literature prize for her book "Nobody but Me." This year, no Swedish works won prizes.
Norway won the grand slam, taking all five prizes. The literature prize went to a book in the Sami language, a first since 1991, when Nils-Aslak Valkeapää won the prize for his poetic work “The Sun, My Father”.
“Rare playfulness”
This year’s laureate, Sigbjørn Skáden, like Valkeapää, connects the past and present, the jury noted. "Lántdievvá/Planterhaug" is described as an "original novel with a rare playfulness and a historically profound story."
The story begins when Detective Inspector Edgar Huuva returns to his hometown to investigate a death. But the case opens doors both backwards and forwards in history, from the Norwegianization policy to questions of Sami identity in modern-day Norway.
The story is just 185 pages long but is characterized by an enormous wealth of detail.
The Oscar winner received an award
The film award went, not entirely unexpectedly, to Joachim Trier’s "Sentimental Value", which has already enjoyed success at the Oscars. The film, starring Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve, was nominated for nine Oscar statuettes and won in the best international feature category.
In the children’s and young adult literature category, the prize went to "a sad love story" set in Norway during World War II and based on real events. "Du eneste – the story of Gunvor Hofmo and Ruth Maier" by Hilde Hagerup is about the love between 19-year-old Gunvor from Oslo and the Jewish refugee Ruth from Vienna.
Norway also won in the music category, where the prize was awarded to Kristine Tjøgersen and Benedicte Maurseth for "Elja", a work written for Hardanger fiddle, Hardanger viola and Hardanger cello.
The Environmental Prize went to the Norwegian children’s organization Miljøagentene.
The prize money for each award is 300,000 Danish kroner. The prizes will be presented at the Nordic Council session in Helsinki on October 27.
The literature prize: "Lántdievvá/Planterhaug" by Sigbjørn Skáden
The children’s and young adult literature prize: "Du eneste - the story of Gunvor Hofmo and Ruth Maier" by Hilde Hagerup
Film prize: "Sentimental Value" by Joachim Trier
Environmental Prize: Miljøagentene
Music prize: "Elja" by Kristine Tjøgersen and Benedicte Maurseth
