Reading List · Literary Prizes
One prize, nine places. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden share it with the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Åland and the Sámi language area, and each of them puts up its own nominations, so the winner can be a Swedish novel one year and a Faroese book of poems the next. It has been awarded every year since 1962 without a single gap. What it is not is widely translated: of the 65 winning books, 37 exist in English, and this page marks every one that does not.
By Lisanne Swart · 65 winners since 1962 · 37 of them in English · Authors by country · Last reviewed 17 September 2026
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Quick answer
The Nordic Council Literature Prize has gone to a work of fiction, poetry or drama written in a Nordic language every year since 1962, and is worth 300,000 Danish kroner. Nine countries and language areas nominate: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Åland and the Sámi language area. There have been 64 awards and 65 winners, because the prize was shared once, in 1965, and no year has ever been skipped. The 2026 winner will be announced on 20 October. Of the 65 winning books only 37 have ever been published in English, and the table below says which.
How this page chooses
Two jobs, kept apart. The table lists every winner from 1962 to 2025 with the original title, the country or language area, and the English edition where one exists — facts only, including the 28 books where the honest entry is that there is nothing to buy in English.
The fifteen with a full entry are simply the fifteen most recent, 2011 to 2025. There is no ranking in it and no shortlist of favourites. Under each one is a line of plain fact — the translator, the English publisher, another prize — and nothing that cannot be checked. Where a book has no English edition, the heading is its original title, because pretending otherwise would send you looking for something that does not exist.
Oldest first, one for each year. Where a book exists in English the English title is the heading and the original is underneath; where it does not, the original title is the heading. The line in red is a fact about the book, not an opinion about it.
A collection of forty-seven short stories. The pieces turn on unease and mystery, on loneliness, dreams, travels, childhood memories and visions of the future.
Elíasson’s earlier story collection Steintré was published in English as Stone Tree, translated by Victoria Cribb.
Original title: Dager i stillhetens historie
An elderly married couple keep silent about their shared past, and the husband withdraws further into that silence while his wife struggles against their isolation. At the centre of the book is a housekeeper the two of them were fond of and then dismissed. The whole story plays out in the rooms of their house.
Translated into English by Anne Bruce as Days in the History of Silence.
Original title: Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden
Late-eighteenth-century Greenland, then a Danish colony. The Danish priest Morten Falck travels out to the mission, where officials struggle to hold their authority and battle homesickness. The Greenlanders turn Christian faith and European ideas of freedom into instruments of resistance.
Shortlisted for the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award.
Original title: Hägring 38
Helsinki in 1938. The Wednesday Club is a gathering of old friends, among them the lawyer Claes Thune, who meet to drink and to argue politics. As Hitler’s expansion advances across Europe, the divisions inside the group widen.
Published in English as The Wednesday Club, translated by Neil Smith.
Original title: Andvake, Olavs draumar, Kveldsvævd
A young couple, Asle and Alida, move through Bergen. An accident, or a crime, in the first book sets their fate in motion, and the later volumes follow the consequences for their child and their descendants. Time in the city is deliberately unfixed, the streets carrying several periods at once.
Fosse received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2023.
A collection of poems that moves from sewers and city waste to Minsk and the Belarusian language, and on to Stockholm neighbourhoods and the myth of Marsyas, transformed through suffering and music. Tributes to the poet Marina Tsvetaeva run through the book.
Tara turns down a part in a production of Hamlet in order to marry an asylum seeker, and her life comes apart afterwards. She gives birth to a daughter, Siri, who grows up to be a politically engaged performance artist, and the two work their way back towards one another. Tara ends up homeless on the streets of Copenhagen.
Original title: Ör
A middle-aged man travels to a war-damaged European country carrying his toolbox, intending to end his life there. What he finds instead is that everyone has resources of their own, and that what matters is the use they are put to.
Published in English as Hotel Silence, translated by Brian FitzGibbon.
Original title: Efter solen
Stories set in Copenhagen, Mexico and Nevada. The characters include a financial speculator, homeless people and believers in UFOs, and the collection turns on exploitation and inequality. Reality in the stories opens out into other dimensions.
Published in English as After the Sun by Lolli Editions, translated by Sherilyn Nicolette Hellberg.
Original title: Vem dödade bambi?
In Villastaden, a wealthy suburb outside Helsinki, affluent young men commit a gang rape. The book follows the perpetrators and the parent generation that tries to conceal the crime rather than the victim. Gusten Grippe is the one perpetrator who acknowledges what he did.
Published in English as Who Killed Bambi? by the University of Wisconsin Press, translated by Bradley Harmon.
A young Greenlander’s account of love, friendship and life in a post-colonial society. Death runs through the book alongside an insight into the lives of Greenlanders today and the traumas that still cut into daily life.
The first book from Greenland to win the prize.
Original title: Om udregning af rumfang I, II og III
Tara Selter, a rare-book dealer living in rural France with her husband Thomas, finds that the eighteenth of November will not end. She alone remembers each repetition, while objects and her own body carry over from one to the next. Across the volumes she travels through Europe inside the same day.
Volumes I and II, translated by Barbara J. Haveland, were shortlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize.
Original title: Ihågkom oss till liv
After learning of her aunt Susanne’s suicide, the author traces her family’s hidden Jewish history from Nazi persecution through the Second World War to post-war Scandinavia. The search runs through Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Russia, and follows relatives who fled to the United States and Israel. The book is built from photography, drawing, watercolour and text.
The first graphic novel to win the prize; published in English as Remember Us to Life by Ten Speed Press in 2025.
A son searches for his father, dead fourteen years, through the letters, drawings and photographs he left behind. The grandfather, known in the family as the Judge, stands at the centre of it. The book spans several decades and continents and takes in war history and colonial history.
The first Norwegian winner since Jon Fosse in 2015.
A poetry collection about a mother watching her teenage son grow distant and run into trouble. It asks when the son becomes his own self and no longer hers, and when she is her own self and not only a mother. The book includes collages the author made from fragments of text and image.
The first Faroese winner since Rói Patursson in 1986.
All 65 winners across 64 years, with the country or language area, the original title and the English edition where there is one. The rows in red are the fifteen most recent, which have a full entry above.
| Year | Author | Original title | In English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Eyvind Johnson Sweden | Hans nådes tid | The Days of His Grace |
| 1963 | Väinö Linna Finland | Täällä Pohjantähden alla 3 | Under the North Star 3: Reconciliation |
| 1964 | Tarjei Vesaas Norway | Is-slottet | The Ice Palace |
| 1965 | William Heinesen Faroe Islands | Det gode Håb | The Good Hope |
| 1965 | Olof Lagercrantz Sweden | Från helvetet till paradiset | From Hell to Paradise |
| 1966 | Gunnar Ekelöf Sweden | Dīwān över Fursten av Emgión | No English edition |
| 1967 | Johan Borgen Norway | Nye noveller | No English edition |
| 1968 | Per Olof Sundman Sweden | Ingenjör Andrées luftfärd | The Flight of the Eagle |
| 1969 | Per Olov Enquist Sweden | Legionärerna | The Legionnaires |
| 1970 | Klaus Rifbjerg Denmark | Anna (jeg) Anna | Anna, I, Anna |
| 1971 | Thorkild Hansen Denmark | Slavernes kyst, Slavernes skibe, Slavernes øer | Coast of Slaves, Ships of Slaves, Islands of Slaves |
| 1972 | Karl Vennberg Sweden | Sju ord på tunnelbanan | No English edition |
| 1973 | Veijo Meri Finland | Kersantin poika | No English edition |
| 1974 | Villy Sørensen Denmark | Uden mål – og med | No English edition |
| 1975 | Hannu Salama Finland | Siinä näkijä missä tekijä | No English edition |
| 1976 | Ólafur Jóhann Sigurðsson Iceland | Að laufferjum og Að brunnum | No English edition |
| 1977 | Bo Carpelan Finland | I de mörka rummen, i de ljusa | No English edition |
| 1978 | Kjartan Fløgstad Norway | Dalen Portland | Dollar Road |
| 1979 | Ivar Lo-Johansson Sweden | Pubertet | No English edition |
| 1980 | Sara Lidman Sweden | Vredens barn | No English edition |
| 1981 | Snorri Hjartarson Iceland | Hauströkkrið yfir mér | No English edition |
| 1982 | Sven Delblanc Sweden | Samuels bok | No English edition |
| 1983 | Peter Seeberg Denmark | Om fjorten dage | No English edition |
| 1984 | Göran Tunström Sweden | Juloratoriet | The Christmas Oratorio |
| 1985 | Antti Tuuri Finland | Pohjanmaa | A Day in Ostrobothnia |
| 1986 | Rói Patursson Faroe Islands | Líkasum | No English edition |
| 1987 | Herbjørg Wassmo Norway | Hudløs himmel | No English edition |
| 1988 | Thor Vilhjálmsson Iceland | Grámosinn glóir | Justice Undone |
| 1989 | Dag Solstad Norway | Roman 1987 | No English edition |
| 1990 | Tomas Tranströmer Sweden | För levande och döda | For the Living and the Dead |
| 1991 | Nils-Aslak Valkeapää Sámi language area | Beaivi, áhčážan | The Sun, My Father |
| 1992 | Fríða Á. Sigurðardóttir Iceland | Meðan nóttin líður | Night Watch |
| 1993 | Peer Hultberg Denmark | Byen og verden | No English edition |
| 1994 | Kerstin Ekman Sweden | Händelser vid vatten | Blackwater |
| 1995 | Einar Már Guðmundsson Iceland | Englar alheimsins | Angels of the Universe |
| 1996 | Øystein Lønn Norway | Hva skal vi gjøre i dag og andre noveller | No English edition |
| 1997 | Dorrit Willumsen Denmark | Bang. En roman om Herman Bang | Bang: A Novel about the Danish Writer |
| 1998 | Tua Forsström Finland | Efter att ha tillbringat en natt bland hästar | After Spending a Night Among Horses |
| 1999 | Pia Tafdrup Denmark | Dronningeporten | Queen’s Gate |
| 2000 | Henrik Nordbrandt Denmark | Drømmebroer | No English edition |
| 2001 | Jan Kjærstad Norway | Oppdageren | The Discoverer |
| 2002 | Lars Saabye Christensen Norway | Halvbroren | The Half Brother |
| 2003 | Eva Ström Sweden | Revbensstäderna | No English edition |
| 2004 | Kari Hotakainen Finland | Juoksuhaudantie | No English edition |
| 2005 | Sjón Iceland | Skugga-Baldur | The Blue Fox |
| 2006 | Göran Sonnevi Sweden | Oceanen | No English edition |
| 2007 | Sara Stridsberg Sweden | Drömfakulteten | The Faculty of Dreams |
| 2008 | Naja Marie Aidt Denmark | Bavian | Baboon |
| 2009 | Per Petterson Norway | Jeg forbanner tidens elv | I Curse the River of Time |
| 2010 | Sofi Oksanen Finland | Puhdistus | Purge |
| 2011 | Gyrðir Elíasson Iceland | Milli trjánna | No English edition |
| 2012 | Merethe Lindstrøm Norway | Dager i stillhetens historie | Days in the History of Silence |
| 2013 | Kim Leine Denmark | Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden | The Prophets of Eternal Fjord |
| 2014 | Kjell Westö Finland | Hägring 38 | The Wednesday Club |
| 2015 | Jon Fosse Norway | Andvake, Olavs draumar, Kveldsvævd | Trilogy |
| 2016 | Katarina Frostenson Sweden | Sånger och formler | No English edition |
| 2017 | Kirsten Thorup Denmark | Erindring om kærligheden | No English edition |
| 2018 | Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir Iceland | Ör | Hotel Silence |
| 2019 | Jonas Eika Denmark | Efter solen | After the Sun |
| 2020 | Monika Fagerholm Finland | Vem dödade bambi? | Who Killed Bambi? |
| 2021 | Niviaq Korneliussen Greenland | Naasuliardarpi | No English edition |
| 2022 | Solvej Balle Denmark | Om udregning af rumfang I, II og III | On the Calculation of Volume |
| 2023 | Joanna Rubin Dranger Sweden | Ihågkom oss till liv | Remember Us to Life |
| 2024 | Niels Fredrik Dahl Norway | Fars rygg | No English edition |
| 2025 | Vónbjørt Vang Faroe Islands | Svørt orkidé | No English edition |
The interesting thing about a prize shared between nine nominating areas is what happens to the small ones. Sweden has won it most often and Denmark and Norway are close behind, which is roughly what the size of those countries would predict. But the Faroe Islands, with a population under fifty-five thousand, have won it three times, most recently in 2025.
Greenland has won it once, in 2021, when Niviaq Korneliussen took it — the first Greenlandic writer ever to do so. The Sámi language area has won it once, in 1991, with Nils-Aslak Valkeapää. Åland has never won it. For a reader that is the argument for reading the list from the bottom up: this is one of the few places where a book in Faroese or Greenlandic is put on the same table as a Swedish novel.
Eyvind Johnson won the very first Nordic Council Literature Prize in 1962 and the Nobel Prize in Literature twelve years later. Tomas Tranströmer won this prize in 1990 and the Nobel in 2011. Jon Fosse won it in 2015 and the Nobel in 2023.
Sara Lidman was the first woman to win it. Jonas Eika, born in 1991, is the youngest writer ever to take it. In 2023 it went to a graphic novel for the first time.
A prize given every year since 1962 for a work of fiction, poetry or drama written in a Nordic language. It is worth 300,000 Danish kroner and is awarded at the Nordic Council session in the autumn.
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, plus the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Åland and the Sámi language area. Each nominates up to two works a year, and extra members join the adjudicating committee when the smaller areas nominate.
Vónbjørt Vang, for the poetry collection Svørt orkidé, announced on 21 October 2025 and presented at the session in Stockholm. Vang is from the Faroe Islands, the third Faroese winner in the prize’s history.
It has not been decided. Thirteen works were nominated in February 2026, the winner is announced on 20 October 2026 and the prize is presented at the session in Helsinki on 27 October. One of this year’s nominees was put forward by the Norwegian and the Sámi juries independently, having been published in parallel in Norwegian and in Torne Sámi.
37 of the 65. That leaves 28 that have never been published in English, and the table on this page marks each one rather than quietly leaving it out.
Once, in 1965, between William Heinesen of the Faroe Islands and Olof Lagercrantz of Sweden. It is the only time in the prize’s history, and no year has ever been skipped.
Three: Eyvind Johnson, who won this prize in 1962 and the Nobel in 1974; Tomas Tranströmer, 1990 and 2011; and Jon Fosse, 2015 and 2023.
Yes, once each. Niviaq Korneliussen won in 2021, the first Greenlandic writer to do so, and Nils-Aslak Valkeapää won for the Sámi language area in 1991. The Faroe Islands have won three times.
Of the recent winners, the ones that exist in English are the practical answer, and they are marked on every row of the table. Jon Fosse’s 2015 win is the best known name on the list, and he has been widely translated.
My guide to authors by country goes wider than the prize, for the Nordic countries and for everywhere else.
Winner list last verified 17 September 2026.
Nothing here was suggested by a machine.
I checked every one of these myself,
including the ones with no English edition.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“One prize, nine countries and language areas, and no year ever skipped.”
— the Nordic Council Literature Prize, 1962 to now
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