The Nordic Prize (Swedish: nordiska pris) is a literary award presented annually by the Swedish Academy. The recipient is someone from the Nordic countries who has done significant work in any of the Academy's areas of operations or interests. The inaugural award was in 1986 and was founded with a donation from Karen and Karl Ragnar Gierows. The prize amount consists of . The prize has been referred to as the "little Nobel" because it is awarded by the same Academy that gives the Nobel Prize.
Recipients YearPictureLaureateCountryLanguage(s)Genre(s)References1986Villy Sørensen (1929–2001)Danishshort story, philosophy, literary criticism1987William Heinesen (1900–1991)Danishpoetry, novel, short story1988 (1925–2009)Finnishliterary criticism, linguistics1989Rolf Jacobsen (1907–1994)Norwegianpoetry1990Henrik Nordbrandt (1945–2023)Danishpoetry, novel, essay1991Tomas Tranströmer (1931–2015)Swedishpoetry, translation1992Thor Vilhjálmsson (1925–2011)Icelandicnovel, short story1993Paavo Haavikko (1931–2008)Finnishpoetry, drama, essay1994Inger Christensen (1935–2009)Danishpoetry, novel, essay1995Lars Ahlin (1915–1997)Swedishnovel1996Arne Næss (1912–2009)Norwegianphilosophy1997Bo Carpelan (1926–2011)Finnishpoetry, novel1998Lars Forssell (1928–2007)Swedishpoetry, drama, songwriting1999Klaus Rifbjerg (1931–2015)Danishnovel, short story, essay, drama, poetry2000Lars Huldén (1926–2016)Finnishtranslation, linguistics2001Willy Kyrklund (1921–2009)Finnish and Swedishshort story, novel, essay2002 (1927–2020)Danishessay, literary criticism2003Lars Norén (1944–2021)Swedishdrama, novel, poetry2004Guðbergur Bergsson (1932–2023)Icelandicnovel, short story, translation2005Göran Sonnevi (b. 1939)Swedishpoetry, translation2006Pia Tafdrup (b. 1952)Danishpoetry, novel, drama2007Jon Fosse (b. 1959)Norwegiannovel, drama, poetry, essay2008Sven-Eric Liedman (b. 1939)Swedishphilosophy, essay2009Kjell Askildsen (1929–2021)Norwegianshort story, novel2010Per Olov Enquist (1934–2020)Swedishdrama, novel2011Ernst Håkon Jahr (b. 1948)Norwegianlinguistics2012Einar Már Guðmundsson (b. 1954)Icelandicnovel, short story, poetry, essay2013Sofi Oksanen (b. 1977)Finnish and Englishpoetry, drama, novel, essay2014Lars Gustafsson (1936–2016)Swedishpoetry, novel, short stories2015Thomas Bredsdorff (b. 1937)Danishliterary criticism2016Monika Fagerholm (b. 1961)Swedishnovel, short story 2017Dag Solstad (1941–2025)Norwegiannovel, short story, drama 2018Agneta Pleijel (b. 1940)Swedishnovel, drama, poetry, literarcy criticism 2019Karl Ove Knausgård (b. 1958)Norwegiannovel, autobiography 2020Rosa Liksom (b. 1958)Finnishnovel, short story2021Eldrid Lunden (b. 1940)Norwegianpoetry, essays 2022Naja Marie Aidt (b. 1963)Danishpoetry, short story, drama, novel2023Sjón (b. 1962)Icelandicpoetry, novel, lyrics2024Ingela Strandberg (b. 1944)Swedishpoetry, novel, drama, short story2025Søren Ulrik Thomsen (b. 1956)Danishpoetry, essay
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