The Gyldendal Prize, formerly Gyldendal's Endowment, is a Norwegian literary prize awarded by the Norwegian publisher

Gyldendal Norsk Forlag Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS, commonly referred to as Gyldendal N.F. and in Norway often only as Gyldendal, is one of the largest Norway, Norwegian publishing houses. It was founded in 1925 after buying rights to publications from the Denmark, Dan ...

. Gyldendal's Endowment was awarded from 1934 to 1995. It was superseded by the Gyldendal Prize in 1996. The prize is awarded for the entire body of the author's work and regardless of their publisher.

History

In 1996, the Gyldendal's endowment was superseded by the Gyldendal Prize, awarded for "particularly significant writing" over the body of a writer's work. Initially annual, since 2015 this prize has been awarded every two years. With a monetary value of 50,000 Euros, it is Norway's richest literary prize. Previous winners include Dag Solstad,

Jon Fosse Jon Olav Fosse (; born 29 September 1959) is a Norwegian author, translator, and playwright. In 2023, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable." Fosse's work spans over se ...

Vigdis Hjorth Vigdis Hjorth (born 19 July 1959) is a Norwegian novelist best known for English translations of '' Long Live the Post Horn'' (2012) and ''Will and Testament''. She was longlisted for the National Book Award for Translated Literature in 2019 f ...

, Karl Ove Knausgård and

Per Petterson Per Petterson (born 18 July 1952 in Oslo) is a Norwegian novelist. His debut book was ''Aske i munnen, sand i skoa'' (1987), a collection of short stories. He has since published a number of novels with good reviews. ''To Siberia'' (1996), set i ...

. In addition, since 1998, the publisher has awarded the ''Sult-prisen'' (Hunger Award) for "eminent young authors".

Gyldendal's Endowment winners

*1934 –

Olav Duun Olav Duun (21 November 1876 – 13 September 1939) was a writer of Norwegian fiction. He is generally recognized to be one of the more outstanding writers in Norwegian literature. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature twenty-fo ...

*1935 – Peter Egge, Herman Wildenvey, Arnulf Øverland *1936 –

Gabriel Scott Gabriel Scott (8 March 1874 – 9 July 1958) was a Norwegian poet, novelist, playwright and children's writer. Personal life Gabriel Scott Jensen was born in Leith in Scotland as the son of sailors' priest Svend Holst Jensen and his wife wri ...

*1937 – Cora Sandel *1938 – Arthur Omre *1939 – Johan Falkberget *1940 – Sigurd Christiansen, Ronald Fangen, Sigurd Hoel *1941 –

Gunnar Reiss-Andersen Gunnar Reiss-Andersen (21 August 1896 – 29 July 1964) was a Norwegian lyric poet and writer. Biography He was born at Larvik in Vestfold, Norway. Reiss-Andersen went to sea at 17 years of age, sailing the Baltic and North Seas for a year in t ...

, Kristian Elster *1942 –

Inge Krokann Inge Krokann (19 August 1893–27 September 1962) was a Norwegian writer. His most famous work is '' I Dovre Sno '' (1929), an epic story of the Loe family during the Middle Ages. Because his writing was full of local expressions and is so st ...

*1943 –

Tarjei Vesaas Tarjei Vesaas (20 August 1897 – 15 March 1970) was a Norwegian poet and novelist. Vesaas is widely considered to be one of Norway's greatest writers of the twentieth century and perhaps its most important since World War II. Vesaas' work is c ...

*1944 – Inger Hagerup *1945 –

Johan Borgen Johan Collett Müller Borgen (28 April 1902 – 16 October 1979) was a Norwegian writer, journalist and critic. His best-known work is the novel ''Lillelord'' for which he was awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature in 1955. He wa ...

*1946 –

Emil Boyson Emil Boyson (4 September 1897 – 2 June 1979) was a Norwegian poet, writer, and translator. Biography Carl Emil Steen Boyson was born in Bergen, Norway. His parents were Immanuel Boysen (1854–1921) and Christine Steen (1869–1905). He g ...

Ernst Orvil Ernst Orvil (née Ernst Richard Nilsen; 12 April 1898 – 16 June 1985) was a Norwegian novelist, short story writer, poet and playwright. Biography Ernst Richard Orvil was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. His parents Johan Nilsen (R ...

Tore Ørjasæter Tore Ørjasæter (3 March 1886 – 29 February 1968) was a Norwegian educator and poet.

Biography

� ...

*1947 – Nils Johan Rud *1948 – Ingeborg Møller,

Aksel Sandemose Aksel Sandemose (originally Axel Nielsen; 19 March 1899 – 6 August 1965) was a Danish-Norwegian writer whose works frequently elucidate the theme that the repressions of society lead to violence. Biography Axel Nielsen was born at Nykøbing M ...

*1949 – Gunnar Larsen, Magnhild Haalke *1950 – Egil Rasmussen, Hans Henrik Holm *1951 – Gunvor Hofmo *1952 –

Jakob Sande Jakob Sande (1 December 1906 – 16 March 1967) was a Norwegian writer, poet and folk singer from Dale in Sunnfjord. His parents were Andreas Sande and Ragna Margrete (born Barsnes). He married Solveig Ytterlid in 1942 and they had a daughter, S ...

, Mikkjel Fønhus *1953 – Engvald Bakkan *1954 – Agnar Mykle, Terje Stigen *1955 – Bjørn Rongen, Alfred Hauge *1956 – Sigbjørn Hølmebakk *1957 – Eivind Tverbak, Halldis Moren Vesaas *1958 – Astrid Tollefsen *1959 – Alf Larsen,

Åge Rønning Åge Rønning (4 October 1925 – 31 January 1991) was a Norwegian writer and journalist. Biography Åge Rønning was born in Oslo, Norway. His parents were Normann Rønning (1888–1974) and Astrid Therese Nielsen (1895–1978). He graduated ...

*1960 – Finn Bjørnseth *1961 –

Johannes Heggland Johannes Heggland (29 June 1919 – 24 January 2008) was a Norwegian novelist, short story and children's literature writer, playwright, and elected official with the Centre Party. He is most commonly associated with two of his historic p ...

, Per Bronken *1962 –

Bergljot Hobæk Haff Bergljot Hobæk Haff (1 May 1925 – 12 February 2016) was a Norwegian educator and novelist. Biography Haff was born in Botne Municipality (now part of Holmestrand Municipality) in Vestfold county, Norway. Her parents were Lars Hobæk (1883–1 ...

*1963 – Åsta Holth,

Arnold Eidslott Arnold Olav Eidslott (10 June 1926 – 19 April 2018) was a Norwegian poet. He was born in Ålesund, and worked as a telegraphic engineer for the whole of his working life. From 1986 to 2018 he was the poet laureate. Eidslott's Christian religio ...

, Ola Viker *1964 – Aslaug Låstad Lygre, Odd Hølaas *1965 – Marie Takvam, Gisken Wildenvey *1966 – Georg Johannesen, Odd Winger *1967 – Kåre Holt, Per Hansson *1968 –

Jan Erik Vold Jan Erik Vold (born 18 October 1939) is a Norwegian lyric poet, reciter, translator and author. He was a member of the so-called "''Profil'' generation", the circle attached to the literary magazine '' Profil''. Throughout his career, he has con ...

*1969 –

Knut Faldbakken Knut Faldbakken (born 31 August 1941, in Hamar) is a Norwegian novelist. Life and career He studied psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, bot ...

*1970 – Espen Haavardsholm, Sigmund Skard, Merete Wiger *1971 – Tor Obrestad *1972 –

Jens Bjørneboe Jens Ingvald Bjørneboe (9 October 1920 – 9 May 1976) was a Norwegian writer whose work spanned a number of literary formats. He was also a painter and a Waldorf school teacher. Bjørneboe was a harsh and eloquent critic of Norwegian society a ...

*1973 – Tor Edvin Dahl *1974 –

, Nils Johan Rud, Gunvor Hofmo,

, Tor Åge Bringsværd *1975 – Pål Sundvor *1976 – Finn Carling, Sigurd Evensmo *1977 –

Jan Jakob Tønseth Jan Jakob Tønseth (1 September 1947 – 12 October 2018) was a Norwegian author, poet and translator. Tønseth debuted as a poet with the poetry collection ''Kimærer'' in 1971, when he was only 24 years of age. He achieved broad recognition as ...

*1978 – Olav Nordrå, Arne Ruste *1979 – Cecilie Løveid, Wera Sæther *1980 – Marta Schumann, Tormod Haugen *1981 – Gidske Anderson,

Stein Mehren Stein Mehren (16 May 1935 – 28 July 2017) was a Norwegian poet, essayist and playwright. He made his literary debut as poet with ''Gjennom stillheten en natt'' (1960). He wrote more than fifty books, mainly poetry.

*1982 –

Ola Bauer Ola Bauer (24 July 1943 – 12 June 1999) was a Norwegian novelist and playwright. He made his literary debut with the novel ''Graffiti'' in 1976, under the pseudonym Jo Vendt. Among his best known books are ''Humlehjertene'' (1980), ''Rosap ...

, Ketil Gjessing *1983 – Karin Bang, Terje Johanssen *1984 – Mari Osmundsen,

Simen Skjønsberg Simen Skjønsberg (2 September 1920 – 26 December 1993) was a Norwegian journalist and writer. He was born in Øyer. During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany he was arrested by the Nazi authorities following the 1943 University of ...

*1985 – Paal-Helge Haugen, Geir Kjetsaa *1986 –

Inger Elisabeth Hansen Inger Elisabeth Hansen (born 20 April 1950) is a Norwegian poet and translator. She has been awarded the Dobloug Prize, the Brage Prize, and the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature. She was president of the Norwegian Writers' Union from 1997 ...

, Erland Kiøsterud *1987 – Hans Herbjørnsrud, Tor Ulven *1988 – Liv Køltzow, Øystein Lønn *1989 – Edvard Hoem,

Gunnar Staalesen Gunnar Staalesen (born 19 October 1947) is a Norwegian writer. He is a major figure in the Nordic noir crime fiction genre through his 20 novels featuring Varg Veum, a private detective in Bergen on the rainy west coast of Norway. The Varg Veu ...

*1990 – Sigmund Mjelve, Atle Næss *1991 –

Kjartan Fløgstad Kjartan Fløgstad (born 7 June 1944) is a Norwegian author. Fløgstad was born in the industrial city of Sauda in Ryfylke, Rogaland. He studied literature and linguistics at the University of Bergen. Subsequently, he worked for a period as an ...

, Herbjørg Wassmo *1992 – Sissel Lie, Steinar Løding,

Tor Fretheim Tor Fretheim (13 May 1946 – 9 December 2018) was a Norwegian journalist and author of children's literature. Biography Fretheim was born at Asker in Akershus and grew up in Sandefjord. After graduating in 1965, he began studying at the Unive ...

*1993 – Britt Karin Larsen, Thorvald Steen *1994 – Kjersti Scheen, Bjørn Aamodt *1995 – Torgrim Eggen, Terje Holtet Larsen

Gyldendal Prize winners

*1996 – Dag Solstad *1997 – Bjørn Aamodt *1998 –

*1999 –

*2000 –

*2001 – Cecilie Løveid *2002 –

Lars Amund Vaage Lars Amund Vaage was born in 1952 at Sunde, Kvinnherad on the west coast of Norway, and studied classical piano at the Bergen Music Conservatory. He made his literary debut in 1979 with the novel ''Exercise Cold Winter'', and has since published ...

*2003 –

*2004 –

*2005 – Roy Jacobsen *2006 – Einar Økland *2007 – Ole Robert Sunde *2008 – Paal-Helge Haugen *2009 – Tomas Espedal *2010 –

*2011 – Karl Ove Knausgård *2012 –

*2013 –

Øyvind Rimbereid Øyvind Rimbereid (born 2 May 1966 in Stavanger) is a Norway, Norwegian author and composer of lyric poetry. He has worked as an instructor at ''Skrivekunstakademiet'' in Bergen. Rimbereid holds a cand. philol. degree from the University of Bergen ...

*2014 –

Rune Christiansen Rune Christiansen (born 10 April 1963 in Bergen) is a Norwegian poet and novelist. He is a professor of creative writing at Telemark University College. He won the Brage Prize in 2014 and the Gyldendal lifetime award in 2015. Rune Christiansen ...

*2015 – Liv Køltzow *2017 – Tone Hødnebø *2019 –

Øyvind Berg Øyvind Berg (born March 10, 1971, in Løken) is a Norway, Norwegian former ski jumping, ski jumper who competed from 1983 to 1996. He won a gold medal in the team large hill at the 1993 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships and finished 22n ...

*2021 – Espen Søbye *2023 – Hanne Ørstavik

References

{{Reflist Norwegian literary awards