Meet the nominees for the 2024 Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize!
Fourteen Nordic picture books, children’s books and youth novels have been nominated for the 2024 Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize. Several of this year’s nominees examine existential questions about life and death, and another recurring theme is mankind’s relationship to nature. The winner will be announced on 22 October.
This year’s nominees span the entire Nordic Region with works from all countries and language areas. The books deal with life difficulties that children and young people are confronted with in the form of absent parents, bullying and loneliness, as well as bigger social problems such as violence, war, and fleeing difficult situations. Human power over nature, our smallness and our responsibility are also brought up, while the works also look at nature’s roles as a haven for play, and as a source of hope, comfort, and reflection.
Here are the books that could win the 2024 Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize:
Denmark
Per av Zenia Johnsen og Signe Parkins (ill.). Bildefortelling, Jensen og Dalgaard, 2023.
Den fantastiske bus av Jakob Martin Strid. Bildebok, Gyldendal, 2023.
Finland
Laske salaa kymmeneen av Laura Lähteenmäki. Roman for barn, WSOY, 2023.
Skelettet av Malin Klingenberg og Maria Sann (ill.). Bildebok, Schildts & Söderströms, 2022.
Faroe Islands
Toran gongur av Rakel Helmsdal. Bildebok, Bókadeild Føroya Lærarafelags, 2023.
Greenland
Manguaraq av Christian Rex. Tegneserie, Ilinniusiorfik, 2023.
Iceland
Hrím av Hildur Knútsdóttir. Ungdomsroman, Forlagið, 2023.
Skrímslavinafélagið av Tómas Zoëga og Sólrún Ylfa Ingimarsdóttir (ill.). Barnebok, Forlagið, 2023.
Norway
Udyr av Ingvild Bjerkeland. Grøsser, Cappelen Damm, 2023.
Oskar og eg av Maria Parr og Åshild Irgens (ill.). Høytlesingsbok for barn, Samlaget, 2023.
Sweden
Någons bror av Viveka Sjgren. Bildebok, Vombat Forlag, 2023.
Bror av Alex Khourie. Ungdomsroman, Rabén & Sjögren, 2023.
Sami language area
“Hamburgerprinseassa – Eallá dušše oktii” by Saia Stueng. Youth novel, Davvi Girji, 2023.
Åland
Freja och huggormen av Fredrik Sonck og Jenny Lucander (ill.). Bildebok, Förlaget, 2023.
Read more about the books here.
The works have been nominated by the national members of the adjudication committee for the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize.
The winner of the 2024 Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize will be announced during a television broadcast on 22 October, which can be watched in all the Nordic countries. During an awards ceremony in conjunction with the Session of the Nordic Council in Reykjavik in the week commencing 28 October, the winner will receive the “Nordlys” statuette. The prize is worth DKK 300 000.
About the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize:
The Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize was first awarded in 2013. The prize was born out of the long-standing desire of the Nordic ministers for culture to strengthen and highlight literature for children and young people in the Nordic Region. The prize goes to a literary work for children and young people written in one of the Nordic languages. The work can combine text and images, and must meet high literary and artistic standards.