{"id":65372,"date":"2026-08-27T15:47:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T15:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/?p=65372"},"modified":"2026-08-27T16:54:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T16:54:36","slug":"halldor-laxness-international-literary-prize-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/halldor-laxness-international-literary-prize-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Halld\u00f3r Laxness International Literary Prize 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Halld\u00f3r Laxness international literary prize to be presented for the fifth time<\/h4>\n

The Halld\u00f3r Laxness International Literary Prize will be presented at Nordic House in Reykjav\u00edk for the fifth time on Thursday, 10 September. The prize is awarded every other year to an internationally renowned author who has contributed to the renewal of the art of storytelling. This was precisely the reasoning given by the Swedish Academy when Halld\u00f3r Laxness was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955.<\/p>\n

The prize also aims to promote the name and legacy of Halld\u00f3r Laxness on the international stage. It is presented by the Reykjav\u00edk International Literary Festival, the Ministry of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education, Business Iceland, Glj\u00fafrasteinn, and Forlagi\u00f0, Halld\u00f3r Laxness\u2019s publisher in Iceland. Nordic House is a partner of the 2026 Halld\u00f3r Laxness International Literary Prize.<\/p>\n

The prize was first presented in 2019, when British author Ian McEwan received it. Two years later, Turkish author Elif Shafak was awarded the prize, followed in 2022 by Ukrainian author Andrei Kurkov. Salman Rushdie received the prize in 2024.<\/p>\n

This year, the prize goes to Polish author Olga Tokarczuk. She will receive the award on Thursday, 10 September, with the programme beginning at 5:00 p.m. at Nordic House. Logi Einarsson, Minister of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education, will present Tokarczuk with the prize, which consists of \u20ac15,000 and a prize medal. Following the ceremony, Halla Oddn\u00fd Magn\u00fasd\u00f3ttir and Halld\u00f3r Gu\u00f0mundsson will lead a conversation with Tokarczuk on stage. Admission is free and open to everyone, subject to capacity.<\/p>\n

In the jury\u2019s citation, Salman Rushdie says:<\/p>\n

\u201cOlga Tokarczuk is simply one of the world\u2019s foremost living writers. In her work, tragedy, comedy, history and irony come together in an exceptionally rich literary blend. I am delighted that she has accepted the Laxness Prize. In doing so, she has honoured us all greatly.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the afternoon of Friday, 11 September, an event will be held at Forlagi\u00f0 Bookshop on Fiskisl\u00f3\u00f0, where poets Ewa Marcinek, Ma\u00f3 Alheimsd\u00f3ttir and Jakub Stachowiak will read from their work alongside Olga Tokarczuk.<\/p>\n

The 2026 jury for the Halld\u00f3r Laxness International Literary Prize consisted of Salman Rushdie, recipient of the 2024 Halld\u00f3r Laxness International Literary Prize; media personality Egill Helgason; and Stella Soff\u00eda J\u00f3hannesd\u00f3ttir, chair of the board of the Reykjav\u00edk International Literary Festival.<\/p>\n

Two books by Olga Tokarczuk have been published in Icelandic, both translated by \u00c1rni \u00d3skarsson and published by Bjartur. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead<\/em> was published in 2022, followed in 2025 by the novel House of Day, House of Night<\/em>. Her short story \u201cThe Dancer\u201d has also been published in a translation by Steinunn G. Helgad\u00f3ttir in T\u00edmarit M\u00e1ls og menningar<\/em>, issue 4, 2024.<\/p>\n

Olga Tokarczuk was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2018. She has received numerous other awards for her work, including the International Booker Prize and Poland\u2019s most prestigious literary award, the Nike Award, which she has won twice. Her work includes four short-story collections, nine novels and three collections of essays. Tokarczuk has also written an opera libretto based on one of her novels, demonstrating the breadth of her work as an author and her ability to work across different media.<\/p>\n

Tokarczuk studied psychology at university, and her knowledge of the field is reflected in her writing. She explores mythical and timeless themes, creating both challenging worlds and fascinating characters in her work. Her books are highly popular with general readers and have also received widespread critical acclaim.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"logo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Halld\u00f3r Laxness international literary prize to be presented for the fifth time The Halld\u00f3r Laxness International Literary Prize will be presented at Nordic House in Reykjav\u00edk for the fifth time on Thursday, 10 September. The prize is awarded every other year to an internationally renowned author who has contributed to the renewal of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":65351,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements","no-banner-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}