Nordic Council prizes to be awarded in Oslo on 31 October

Every year, the Nordic Council awards five prizes in recognition of Nordic literature, languages, music, and film, as well as innovative thinking in the field of the environment.  The Norwegian delegation to the Nordic Council is hosting this year’s awards ceremony at the Norwegian Opera and Ballet. 

“We’re delighted to invite you to the awards ceremony for the Nordic Council prizes at the Norwegian Opera and Ballet in Oslo. First and foremost, the evening will pay tribute to all the nominees and their works, but it will also be a grand celebration of the Nordic cultural community. This close collaboration in music, film, literature, and the environment is a significant contribution to our common identity,” says President of the Nordic Council, Jorodd Asphjell.

The awards ceremony can be watched on NRK and at norden.org.

A total of 54 works, initiatives, and artists from all the Nordic countries have been nominated for the Nordic Council prizes for 2023. The nominees include novels, poetry collections, short stories and picture books, composers, music groups, pianists, and an orchestra, as well as initiatives focusing on the environmental challenges within the textile industry. Among the feature films nominated this year is the first ever film prize nomination from Greenland. 

The Nordlys statuette will be awarded on the stage of the Norwegian Opera and Ballet in Oslo, and the winners will be recognised for their extraordinary efforts by way of a prize of DKK 300,000. 

Giving out the prizes are:

• Nordic Council Environment Prize – His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon and Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mette-Marit
• Nordic Council Music Prize – musician Kajsa Balto, who will also perform during the evening 
• Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize – author Maja Lunde 
• Nordic Council Film Prize – actor Maria Bonnevie 
• Nordic Council Literature Prize – Norway’s Minister for Culture and Equality Lubna Jaffery 
   

The programme for the evening will be led by actor Kåre Conradi and musician Ingrid Bjørnov, who together will also set the musical tone for the awards ceremony as a whole. The audience both in the hall and at home can look forward to some top-notch performances by: Kajsa Balto, who will play Sami pop with her band; Nasjonalballeten UNG, who will present new choreography by Kumiko Hayakawa; the Norwegian-Moroccan hip-hop star Jonas Benyoub, who will perform “Spor i Snøen”; and former music prize nominee Stian Carstensen, who together with Romkameratene, will take us on a folk music journey through Europe.

“This is an evening for us to pay tribute to Nordic masters in their respective fields. The artistic elements reflect the fact that the Nordic cultural field is always a mixture of our own cultural heritage and boundless cultural impulses from the rest of the world. We have joik and European folk music, classical ballet, and hip-hop, all of which reflect the theme for the evening, which we call ‘The Nordics in the world - The world in the Nordics’,” says Paal Ritter Schjerven, producer and artistic director for the awards ceremony.

“Ingrid Bjørnov and Kåre Conradi will create a warm and entertaining atmosphere that binds the Nordic countries together, both where it’s natural and where it’s completely unnatural,” he concludes.

The live broadcast of the awards ceremony from the Norwegian Opera and Ballet will start at 19:30 (CET) and can be watched on NRK1 and throughout the Nordic Region via norden.org.

The Nordic Council prizes are considered the most prestigious prizes in the region. First awarded in 1962, the literature prize is the oldest of the five prizes, and has since been followed by the music prize, the environment prize, the film prize and the children and young people’s literature prize. Five adjudication committees select the nominees and the winner.

The Nordic Council prizes will be awarded in conjunction with the 75th Session of the Nordic Council in Oslo, where parliamentarians, ministers, and other politicians from all over the Nordic Region come together to engage in political debate. 

The Nordic Council prizes for 2023 will be awarded on 31 October from 19:30 (CET) at the Norwegian Opera and Ballet in Oslo. Immediately after the awards ceremony, the winners will be available for interviews and photographs. 
Only journalists accredited for the Session of the Nordic Council will be able to participate in the awards ceremony. Journalists must apply for accreditation by 27 October at 14:00 (CET). A valid press card is required.