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 literary free speech. The membership includes Norwegian and foreign scholars, authors, politicians, and journalists. The organization's 2016 President was
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 ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
), for promotion of relations between
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s and Christians.
* 2005 –
Esma Redzepova (
Republic of Macedonia), for championing the
Roma people (gypsies).
* 2006 –
Hrant Dink, Editor-in-Chief of the Armenian bi-lingual weekly paper ''
Agos'' (
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
).
* 2007 –
Adunis (pen name for
Ali Ahmad Said Asbar), Syrian poet.
* 2008 –
Ola Larsmo, Swedish writer.
* 2009 –
Grigory Pomerants and
Zinaida Mirkina, Russian philosophers and writers.
* 2010 –
Milan Richter (Slovakia) and
Einar Már Guðmundsson (Iceland), writers.
* 2011 –
Ola Didrik Saugstad and
Marte Wexelsen Goksøyr.
* 2012 – Bishop
Thomas of al-Qusiyya and Mair,
Wojoud Mejalli and
David Zonsheine, human rights activists from Egypt, Yemen and Israel.
* 2013 –
Yaşar Kemal, Turkish author.
* 2014 –
Kristin Solberg, Norwegian journalist and author.
* 2015 –
Edward Snowden, whistleblower.
* 2016 –
Cecilia Dinardi, Norwegian children's rights activist.
* 2017 –
Bruce Springsteen
* 2018 –
Johannes Anyuru, 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