We now know the winners of the Nordic Council prizes for 2024 – Congratulations!

Authors Niels Fredrik Dahl and Jakob Martin Strid, composer Rune Glerup, architect Arnhildur Pálsdóttir, film director Dag Johan Haugerud, and producers Yngve Sæther and Hege Hauff Hvattum can now all call themselves prize winners. 

This year, the nominees were introduced and the winners revealed in a special television programme produced by the Icelandic public service broadcaster RÚV. In the programme, we travel the length and breadth of the Nordic Region to meet the winners on their home turf and gain an insight into how their award-winning film, book, work, or contribution to a more climate-friendly world came to be. 

Follow Icelandic musician and television host Unnsteinn Manuel as he meets Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson, Danish former winner Anna Neye, Finnish writer Satu Rämö, Swedish singer Jenny Wilson, and Icelandic illustrator Rán Flygenring as they travel the region to introduce us to the winners. 

Find out more about the winners:  

2024 Nordic Council Environment Prize

The Nordic Council Environment Prize goes to Arnhildur Pálmadóttir from Iceland for her interdisciplinary interest and focus on reducing carbon emissions and increasing circularity in the construction industry. Arnhildur has a passion for inspiring change in urban planning, architecture, and construction.

2024 Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize

The winner of the 2024 Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize is “Den fantastiske bus” by illustrator Jakob Martin Strid from Denmark. With its 18,500 horsepower, “The Fantastic Bus” (Den fantastiske bus) drives right into the heart of the reader with its epic tale about the importance of imagination and community.

2024 Nordic Council Music Prize

The 2024 Nordic Council Music Prize goes to Rune Glerup from Denmark for the work “Om Lys og Lethed”. The concerto was commissioned by the DR Symphony Orchestra and was written for and in close dialogue with the violinist Isabelle Faust. The work marks a high point in Glerup’s long and remarkable career.

 

2024 Nordic Council Film Prize

The winner of the 2024 Nordic Council Film Prize is the Norwegian film “Sex”, written and directed by Dag Johan Haugerud, and produced by Yngve Sæther and Hege Hauff Hvattum for Motlys. Sex is never just sex. Nowhere is this more evident than in director and screenwriter Dag Johan Haugerud’s clever and philosophical comedy “Sex”. Here, sex is a prism.

2024 Nordic Council Literature Prize

The 2024 Nordic Council Literature Prize is awarded to “Fars rygg” by Niels Fredrik Dahl from Norway. Niels Fredrik Dahl has written an extensive yet pared-back novel about approaching the blind spots in one’s own origins and thus also the formation of one’s own identity. “Fars rygg” is a profound and incredibly distinctive novel about lost time and the conditions of longing. 

NORDIC COUNCIL PRIZES

The literature prize is the oldest of the five prizes. It was first awarded in 1962, followed by the music prize in 1965, the environment prize in 1995, the film prize in 2002 and the children and young people’s literature prize in 2013. Each prize is worth DKK 300,000.