Nordic Council Literature Prize 2011

The complete run-down of candidates for the 2011 Nordic Council Literature Award is as follows (NB Norway's Beate Grimsrud wrote her novel in both Norwegian and in Swedish versions):


Denmark

Josefine Klougart
Stigninger og fald
Novel, Rosinante, 2010

Harald Voetmann
Vågen
Novel, Gyldendal, 2010

Finland

Erik Wahlström
Flugtämjaren
Novel, Schildts, 2010

Kristina Carlson
Herra Darwinin puutarhuri (Herr Darwins trädgårdsmästare)
Novel, Otava, 2009 (Swedish translation, Janina Orlov)

Iceland

Gyrðir Elíasson
Milli trjánna (Bland träden)
Short stories, Uppheimar, 2009, (Swedish translation, John Swedenmark)

Ísak Harðarson
Rennur upp um nótt (Stiger upp om natten)
Poems, Uppheimar, 2009, (Swedish translation, John Swedenmark)

Norway

Beate Grimsrud
En dåre fri
Novel, Cappelen Damm, 2010

Carl Frode Tiller
Innsirkling 2
Novel, Aschehoug, 2010

Sweden

Beate Grimsrud
En dåre fri
Novel, Albert Bonniers Förlag, 2010

Anna Hallberg
Colosseum, Kolosseum
Poetry Collection, Albert Bonniers Förlag, 2010

Faroe Islands

Tóroddur Poulsen
Útsýni (Utsikt)
Poetry collection, Mentunargrunnur Studentafelagsins, 2009, (Swedish translation, Anna Mattsson)

Greenland

Kristian Olsen Aaju
Kakiorneqaqatigiit (Det tatoverede budskab)
Novel, Forlaget Atuagkat, 2010

Åland Islands

Sonja Nordenswan
Blues från ett krossat världshus
Novel, PQR-kultur, 2009

The Sami Language Area

Kerttu Vuolab
Bárbmoáirras (Paradisets stjerne)
Novel, Davvi Girji OS, 2008

(Via the Nordic Council)

Mein Kampf

In Hbl, Arne Toftegaard Pedersen looks at the "Knausgård phenomenon". Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgård (b. 1968) has recently published the first volume of a book which bears the not exactly promising title Min Kamp (My Struggle) - a projected 6-volume work which will run to 2,700 pages, narrating the author's life story. In Norway the first volume has topped the bestseller lists, and the author has become a literary superstar. Now the book is on the shortlist for the Nordic Council Literature Prize... 

A valley in the violence

In Hbl Philip Teir interviews Finnish-Estonian writer Sofi Oksanen, whose work is being published in Sweden and who is tipped to win this year's Nordic Council Literature Prize. Excerpt:

After Sofi Oksanen appeared on a Danish TV culture show and depicted the Finnish people as depressive and uncommunicative she heard criticism from many quarters. The fact that Finland has two brutal school shootings behind it and a bleak set of statistics relating to violence was no excuse. This is stuff one shouldn't talk about to foreign journalists... "It isn't sanitary," was the view of Finland's Professor Laura Kolbe.

"I've learned that while many people don't mind as long as you stick to writing books and winning prizes ... as soon as you say something like this, the reaction is "Get back to Russia, you Estonian whore," says Oksanen, who grew up in Jyväskylä with a father who is Finnish and a mother who is Estonian.

See also: Knocking Finland

Nordic Council Literature Prize nominations

They are as follows:

Denmark

• Peter Laugesen, Fotorama (Photorama), Poetry Collection, Forlaget Borgen 2009
• Ida Jessen, Børnene (The Children), Novel, Forlaget Gyldendal 2009

Finland

• Sofi Oksanen, Puhdistus (Purge), Novel, WSOY 2008
• Monika Fagerholm, Glitterscenen (The Glitter Scene), Novel, Söderströms och Albert Bonniers Förlag 2009

Iceland

• Einar Kárason, Ofsi (Fury), Novel, Mál og menning 2008, (Danish translation, Kim Lembek)

• Steinar Bragi, Konur (Women), Novel, Mál og menning 2008, (Swedish translation, Inge Knudson)

Norway

• Karl Ove Knausgård, Min kamp 1 (My Struggle, Part 1), Novel, Förlaget Oktober 2009
• Tomas Espedal, Imot kunsten (notatbøkene) (Towards Art (the notebokks)), Novel, Gyldendal 2009

Sweden

• Steve Sem-Sandberg, De fattiga i Łódź (The Destitutes of Lodz), Novel, Albert Bonniers Förlag 2009

• Ann Jäderlund, Vad hjälper det en människa om hon häller rent vatten över sig i alla sina dagar (What Does It Help A Person If She Pours Clean Water Over Herself For All Of Her Days), Poetry Collection, Albert Bonniers Förlag 2009

Faroe Islands

• Gunnar Hoydal, Í havsins hjarta (In the Heart of the Sea), Roman, Forlaget Sprotin 2007, (Danish translation, Jette Hoydal)

Greenland

No nominations submitted

The Sami Language Area

No nominations submitted

The winner will be chosen in Helsinki on March 29-30 2010.
http://www.norden.org/en/nordic-council/the-nordic-council-prizes/literature-prize/nominations-2010