The Norwegian Academy of Literature and Freedom of Expression (''Det Norske Akademi for Litteratur og Ytringsfrihet'') is a Norwegian institution, founded by the poet Knut Ødegård in 2003, and also called ''Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson-Akademiet''. Its objective is to promote understanding of other cultures and for literary free speech. The membership includes Norwegian and foreign scholars, authors, politicians and journalists. The organization's 2016 President is Kristenn Einarsson.

The Bjørnson Prize

The association annually awards the international (''Bjørnsonprisen'') which includes a cash award of 100,000 kroner (approximately €10,000). Recipients of the award: * 2004 – Vivian Fouad and Samir Morcos (

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

), for promotion of relations between Muslims and Christians. * 2005 – Esma Redzepova (

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

), for championing the

Roma people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

(gypsies). * 2006 –

Hrant Dink Hrant Dink ( hy, Հրանդ Տինք; Western ; 15 September 1954 – 19 January 2007) was a Turkish-Armenian intellectual, editor-in-chief of ''Agos'', journalist and columnist. As editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspa ...

, Editor-in-Chief of the Armenian bi-lingual weekly paper ''

Agos ''Agos'' (in hy, Ակօս, " furrow") is an Armenian bilingual weekly newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey, established on 5 April 1996. ''Agos'' has both Armenian and Turkish pages as well as an online English edition. Today, the paper ...

'' (

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

). * 2007 –

Adunis Ali Ahmad Said Esber (, North Levantine: ; born 1 January 1930), also known by the pen name Adonis or Adunis ( ar, أدونيس ), is a Syrian poet, essayist and translator. He led a modernist revolution in the second half of the 20th century, ...

(pen name for Ali Ahmad Said Asbar), Syrian poet. * 2008 – Ola Larsmo, Swedish writer. * 2009 –

Grigory Pomerants Grigory Solomonovich Pomerants (also: Grigorii or Grigori, russian: Григо́рий Соломо́нович Помера́нц, 13 March 1918, Vilnius – 16 February 2013, Moscow) was a Russian philosopher and cultural theorist. He is the au ...

and Zinaida Mirkina, Russian philosophers and writers. * 2010 –

Milan Richter Milan Richter (born 25 July 1948 in Bratislava) is a Slovak writer, playwright, translator, publisher and a former high-ranking diplomat. Life Early years Richter was born in Bratislava into a Slovak-Moravian Jewish family that was almost extermina ...

(Slovakia) and Einar Már Guðmundsson (Iceland), writers. * 2011 –

Ola Didrik Saugstad Ola Didrik Saugstad (born 5 March 1947) is a Norwegian pediatrician, neonatologist and neuroscientist noted for his research on resuscitation of newborn children and his contribution to reduce child mortality. He is a Research Professor at Os ...

and Marte Wexelsen Goksøyr. * 2012 – Bishop

Thomas of al-Qusiyya and Mair Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, Wojoud Mejalli and

David Zonsheine David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, human rights activists from Egypt, Yemen and Israel. * 2013 –

Yaşar Kemal Yaşar Kemal (born Kemal Sadık Gökçeli; 6 October 1923 – 28 February 2015) was a Turkish writer and human rights activist and one of Turkey's leading writers. He received 38 awards during his lifetime and had been a candidate for the Nobe ...

, Turkish author. * 2014 –

Kristin Solberg Kristin Solberg (born 1982) is a Norwegian journalist and author. She is the Middle East correspondent for NRK and presently based in Beirut. Previously she covered the Middle East and South Asia for''Aftenposten''. Solberg has a bachelor's degre ...

, Norwegian journalist and author. * 2015 – Edward Snowden, whistleblower. * 2016 –

Cecilia Dinardi Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. The name has been popularly used in Europe (particularly the United Kingdom and Italy, where in 2018 it was the 43rd most popular name for girls born ...

, Norwegian children's rights activist. * 2017 – Bruce Springsteen * 2018 –

Johannes Anyuru Johannes Anyuru (born 23 March 1979) is a Swedish poet and author. Biography Anyuru was born in Borås. His father is from Uganda and his mother is Swedish. He debuted in 2003 with ''Det är bara gudarna som är nya'' (Only The Gods Are New) ...

, Swedish poet and author.Svensk forfatter hedres med Bjørnson-prisen
Sunnmørsposten, 27 June 2018 The prize ceremony is held in the autumn in conjunction with the annual seminar held at the historic Bjørnson house in Molde.

References

External links

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson-Akademiet
official website {{Authority control Free expression awards Norwegian literary awards Awards established in 2003 Literary awards honouring human rights