Literary Awards of the Nordic Countries

Denmark - The Danish Academy

Hans Christian Andersen Award

The Hans Christian Andersen Award is sometimes known as the "Little Nobel Prize". This is an international award given biennially by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) in recognition of a "lasting contribution to children's literature". There are two categories of award winners: authors, and illustrators.

The prize is named after the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, and winners receive a gold medal from the hand of the Queen of Denmark.

The Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing has been awarded since 1956. Here are the winners so far:

1956 - Eleanor Farjeon (United Kingdom)

1958 - Astrid Lindgren (Sweden)

1960 - Erich Kästner (Germany)

1962 - Meindert DeJong (USA)

1964 - René Guillot (France)

1966 - Tove Jansson (Finland)

1968 - James Krüss (Germany), José Maria Sanchez-Silva (Spain)

1970 - Gianni Rodari (Italy)

1972 - Scott O'Dell (USA)

1974 - Maria Gripe (Sweden)

1976 - Cecil Bødker (Denmark)

1978 - Paula Fox (USA)

1980 - Bohumil Říha (Czechoslovakia)

1982 - Lygia Bojunga Nunes (Brazil)

1984 - Christine Nöstlinger (Austria)

1986 - Patricia Wrightson (Australia)

1988 - Annie M. G. Schmidt (Netherlands)

1990 - Tormod Haugen (Norway)

1992 - Virginia Hamilton (USA)

1994 - Michio Mado (Japan)

1996 - Uri Orlev (Israel)

1998 - Katherine Paterson (USA)

2000 - Ana Maria Machado (Brazil)

2002 - Aidan Chambers (United Kingdom)

2004 - Martin Waddell (Ireland)

2006 - Margaret Mahy (New Zealand)

2008 - Jürg Schubiger (Switzerland)

Finland - The Finlandia Prize

The Finlandia Prize is the most prestigious literary award in Finland, an is awarded annually to the author of the best Finnish novel, children's book, and non-fiction book. The award sum is 30,000 euros (previously 100,000 Finnish Marks).

1984 Erno Paasilinna: Yksinäisyys ja uhma

1985 Jörn Donner: Far och son

1986 Sirkka Turkka: Tule takaisin, pikku Sheba

1987 Helvi Hämäläinen: Sukupolveni unta

1988 Gösta Ågren: Jär

1989 Markku Envall: Samurai nukkuu

1990 Olli Jalonen: Isäksi ja tyttäreksi 1991 Arto Melleri: Elävien kirjoissa

1992 Leena Krohn: Matemaattisia olioita tai jaettuja unia

1993 Bo Carpelan: Urwind

1994 Eeva Joenpelto: Tuomari Müller, hieno mies

1995 Hannu Mäkelä: Mestari

1996 Irja Rane: Naurava neitsyt

1997 Antti Tuuri: Lakeuden kutsu

1998 Pentti Holappa: Ystävän muotokuva

1999 Kristina Carlson: Maan ääreen

2000 Johanna Sinisalo: Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi

2001 Hannu Raittila: Canal Grande

2002 Kari Hotakainen: Juoksuhaudantie

2003 Pirkko Saisio: Punainen erokirja

2004 Helena Sinervo: Runoilijan talossa

2005 Bo Carpelan: Berg

2006 Kjell Westö: Där vi en gång gått

2007 Hannu Väisänen: Toiset kengät

2008 Sofi Oksanen: Puhdistus

The Icelandic Literary Prize

1990 Fríða Á. Sigurðardóttir: Meðan nóttin líður

1991 Guðbergur Bergsson: Svanurinn

1992 Þorsteinn frá Hamri: Sæfarinn sofandi

1993 Hannes Pétursson: Eldhylur

1994 Vigdís Grímsdóttir: Grandavegur 7

1995 Steinunn Sigurðardóttir: Hjartastaður

1996 Böðvar Guðmundsson: Lífsins tré

1997 Guðbergur Bergsson: Faðir og móðir og dulmagn bernskunnar: skáldævisaga

1998 Thor Vilhjálmsson: Morgunþula í stráum

1999 Andri Snær Magnason: Sagan af bláa hnettinum (The Story of the Blue Planet)

2000 Gyrðir Elíasson: Gula húsið

2001 Hallgrímur Helgason: Höfundur Íslands

2002 Ingibjörg Haraldsdóttir: Hvar sem ég verð

2003 Ólafur Gunnarsson: Öxin og jörðin

2004 Auður Jónsdóttir: Fólkið í kjallaranum

2005 Jón Kalman Stefánsson: Sumarljós og svo kemur nóttin

2006 Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson: Aldingarðurinn

Norwegian literary awards

Norway has several literary awards. The most important and well known are the Brage prize, which is awarded annually by the Norwegian Book Prize foundation (Den norske bokprisen). The prize recognizes recently published Norwegian literature.

Ingvar Ambjørnsen (1995)

Kjartan Fløgstad (1998)

1992 – Karsten Alnæs, Trollbyen

1993 – Øystein Lønn, Thranes metode

1994 – Sigmund Mjelve, Område aldri fastlagt

1995 – Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Fugledansen

1996 – Bergljot Hobæk Haff, Skammen

1997 – Liv Køltzow, Verden forsvinner

1998 – Kjartan Fløgstad, Kron og mynt

1999 – Frode Grytten, Bikubesong

2000 – Per Petterson, I kjølvannet

2001 – Lars Saabye Christensen, Halvbroren

2002 – Niels Fredrik Dahl, På vei til en venn

2003 – Inger Elisabeth Hansen, Trask

2004 – Hanne Ørstavik, Presten

2005 – Marita Fossum, Forestill deg

2006 – Dag Solstad, Armand V. Fotnoter til en uutgravd roman

2007 – Carl Frode Tiller, Innsirkling

2008 – Per Petterson, Jeg forbanner tidens elv

2009 - Karl Ove Knausgård, Min kamp. Første bok

Swedish literary awards: Society The Nine

This is a Swedish literary society founded on 14 February 1913 in Stockholm. It has nine members elected for life. Its purpose is to promote Swedish fiction literature, peace and womens issues. It mainly gives out a number of literary prizes. It is was started as an alternative to the Swedish Academy and is often compared to that. The main prise is called the Grand Prize. It is awarded to Swedish fiction writers, and has been given out since 1921.As of 2008 it is 250 000 SEK (about 23 000 EUR or 32 000 USD).

Winners of the Grand Prize