The Norwegian Academy of Literature and Freedom of Expression
Encyclopedia
The Norwegian Academy of Literature and Freedom of Expression (Det Norske Akademi for Litteratur og Ytringsfrihet) is a Norwegian institution, founded in 2003, and also called Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson-Akademiet. Its objective is to promote understanding of cultures other than our own and for literary free speech. The membership includes Norwegian and foreign students, authors, politicians and journalists. The organization's 2005 President is Knut Ødegård
Knut Ødegård
Knut Ødegård is a Norwegian writer.Born in Molde, Norway, Ødegård made his poetic debut in 1967. Since then he has published many volumes of poetry, two novels for young adults, two books about Iceland, a play, and several reinterpretations...

. The current members of the committee include Peter Normann Waage, Marit Bjørnson Barkbu (a descendant of Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson was a Norwegian writer and the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. Bjørnson is considered as one of The Four Greats Norwegian writers; the others being Henrik Ibsen, Jonas Lie, and Alexander Kielland...

), Thorvald Steen
Thorvald Steen
Thorvald Steen is a Norwegian writer.He made his literary debut in 1983, and has subsequently published a wide range of novels, plays, collections of poems, books of short stories, children’s books and essays. He has distinguished himself as one of Norway’s leading internationally-oriented writers...

, Øystein Hauge
Øystein Hauge
Øystein Hauge is a Norwegian writer.He hails from Vegårshei. He debuted in 1989 with the poetry collection Messe og maskespel ....

, Kristian Gerner
Kristian Gerner
Kristian Gerner is a Swedish historian, author, expert on Eastern Europe and Professor of History at Lund University . From 1994 to 2002, he was Professor of Eastern European History and Culture, also at Lund University...

 and Kari Vogt. The chief administrator is Hilmar Windstad of Molde
Molde
is a city and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region. The municipality is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord...

.

The Bjørnson Prize

The association annually awards the international (Bjørnsonprisen) which includes a cash award of 100,000 kroner (approximately 12,500€).

Recipients of the award were:
  • 2004
    2004 in literature
    The year 2004 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Canada Reads selects Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Last Crossing to be read across the nation....

     - Vivian Fouad and Samir Morcos (Egypt
    Egypt
    Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

    ), for promotion of relations between Muslim
    Muslim
    A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

    s and Christian
    Christian
    A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

    s.
  • 2005
    2005 in literature
    The year 2005 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*February 25 - Canada Reads selects Rockbound by Frank Parker Day as the novel to be read across the nation....

     - Esma Redzepova
    Esma Redzepova
    Esma Redžepova is a Macedonian vocalist, songwriter, and humanitarian. During her life she has performed in more than 9000 concerts in 30 countries, with her late husband Stevo Teodosievski she has fostered forty-seven children, and she has received numerous accolades for her humanitarian work. By...

     (Republic of Macedonia
    Republic of Macedonia
    Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

    ), for championing the Roma people (gypsies).
  • 2006
    2006 in literature
    The year 2006 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Literature:*Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun*Chris Adrian - The Children's Hospital *Martin Amis - House of Meetings...

     - Hrant Dink
    Hrant Dink
    Hrant Dink or Հրանտ Դինք ) was a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent editor, journalist and columnist....

    , Editor-in-Chief of the Armenia
    Armenia
    Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

    n bi-lingual weekly paper Agos
    Agos
    Agos is an Armenian weekly newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. It was established on 5 April 1996. Today, it has a circulation of over 9,000. It has both Armenian and Turkish pages as well as an on-line English edition...

    (Istanbul
    Istanbul
    Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

    ).
  • 2007
    2007 in literature
    The year 2007 in literature involves some significant new books.-Events:*November 19 - First Kindle e-book reader released.*December 11 - Terry Pratchett informs fans on-line that he has been diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease.-Literature:...

     - Adunis  (pen name for Ali Ahmad Said Asbar), Syrian poet.
  • 2008
    2008 in literature
    The year 2008 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*January 1 - In the 2008 New Year Honours, Hanif Kureishi , Jenny Uglow , Peter Vansittart and Debjani Chatterjee are all rewarded for "services to literature".*June 15 - Gore Vidal, asked in a New York Times...

     - Ola Larsmo
    Ola Larsmo
    Ola Larsmo was born in 1957 in Sundbyberg and has lived in Västervik for ten years. He studied at Uppsala University, mainly in Nordic languages, literature, theology and history....

    , Swedish writer.
  • 2009
    2009 in literature
    The year 2009 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*8 October - Romanian-born German novelist Herta Müller wins the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature....

     - Grigory Pomerants
    Grigory Pomerants
    Grigory Solomonovich Pomerants is a Russian philosopher and cultural theorist...

     and Zinaida Mirkina, Russian philosophers and writers.
  • 2010 in literature 2010 - Milan Richter (Slovakia) and Einar Már Gudmundsson (Iceland), writers.


The prize ceremony is held in the fall in conjunction with the annual seminar held at the historic Bjørnson house in Molde.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK