Merethe Lindstrøm wins the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2012

The Norwegian author Merethe Lindstrøm has won the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2012 for her novel Dager i stillhetens historie (Days in the History of Silence). 

(c) Johannes Jansson/norden.org 

Lindstrøm was born in Bergen in 1963 and made her debut with the short story collection Sexorcisten og andre fortellinger in 1983. She is the author of several other short story collections, novels, and has published a children's book. Lindstrøm was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2008 for her collection of short stories Gjestene (2007) and received the Dobloug Prize in 2008.

According to the prize web site, her winning novel “projects a strong, tense family drama about silence and secrecy. It is about the love between two people who have made important choices that define their entire existence, just to realize that some things cannot be ignored. The past not only resurfaces, it has been there all along.”

It does not appear that any of her work has appeared in English translation to date. Perhaps that will now change.

And the 2011 Nordic Council Literature Prize Goes To ...

Icelandic writer Gyrðir Elíasson.

Read more about the award and the author here.

(C) Kristján Kristjánsson 

Finnish Novelist and Poet Bo Carpelan Dies at 84

The Finnish poet and author Bo Carpelan died yesterday at age 84. Carpelan was a laureate of the Nordic Council Literature Prize and twice was awarded the Finlandia Literature Prize.

Several of his works were translated into English, including Axel, Homecoming, and Urwind, all translated by David McDuff.

More information about Carpelan is available at YLE and Helsingen Sanomat.