Today, on Sunday October 30th, Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgård was presented with the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award as the first Nordic recipient. Previous recipients include renowned international authors such as Paulo Coelho, J.K. Rowling, Isabel Allende, Sir Salman Rushdie, Haruki Murakami og Dame A.S. Byatt.
The award was presented to the author during a ceremony at Odense City Hall on October 30th 2022.
In 2020, it was announced that Karl Ove Knausgård (b. 1968), the Norwegian author behind the autobiographical series of novels My Struggle (2009-11) would receive the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award. Due to COVID-19, the award committee postponed the actual ceremony until today, October 30th 2022, when the author visited Odense to receive the award.
In addition to the honor, Karl Ove Knausgård was presented with the bronze sculpture The Ugly Duckling, created by sculptor Stine Ring Hansen, as well as a money prize of 500,000 DKK and the diploma entitled The Beauty of the Swan.
This year’s ceremony will send Knausgård through the magical city of Odense
Karl Ove Knausgård was presented with the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award in Odense’s magical surroundings, and a festive day around the city had been prepared for him.
The schedule of the day kicked off with a lecture by the author himself at the city library along with literature professors Jon Helt Haarder and Adam Poulsen. After this, Karl Ove Knausgård continued to H.C. Andersen’s House, where a special memorial plate was revealed, and he signed Hans Christian Andersen’s guestbook.
Next stop was Odense City Hall, where a Hans Christian Andersen parade was ready to receive Karl Ove Knausgård along with Mayor of Odense, Peter Rahbæk Juel. Then, Ellen Hillingsø took over as the host of the official ceremony.
Anne Marie Mai is the vice chair of the award committee, an author and professor of Danish literature at the University of Southern Denmark. She gave the motivation speech to Karl Ove Knausgård, which she finished off with the following words:
“Dear Karl Ove Knausgård – how nice it is to speak to you today in Danish and listen to your Norwegian language. We have strong cultural relations in the Nordic countries, and many Danish readers have read your books in Norwegian immediately after their first publication, because they read Norwegian – I think they probably learned it more from the TV series “Shame” than from you! In any case, many of us can’t wait for a translation: we just have to get hold of your books as soon as they are published. You have helped to both bring Nordic literature to towering international recognition and strengthen a Nordic cultural community that the world of today badly needs. We hope that you will continue to persevere in both areas, just like H.C. Andersen.”
First Nordic recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award
Knausgård is the first Nordic recipient of the award. Previously, the prestigious award has been presented to renowned authors such as Paulo Coelho, J.K. Rowling, Isabel Allende, Sir Salman Rushdie, Haruki Murakami and, most recently, Dame A.S. Byatt.
Karl Ove Knausgård had his debut as an author of fiction in 1998 with the novel Out of the World, which secured him the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature. This was the first time a debut novel had ever won the prize. In 2004, the follow-up A Time for Everything was published. This novel was also well-received, both at home and abroad. Both novels have been published in Danish in 2005 and 2007, respectively.
A strong ambassador of Nordic literature
His best-known work is the colossal My Struggle, which was published across six volumes between 2009 and 2011. The series has sold more than half a million copies in his native Norway, and it has been published in the other Nordic countries, as well as throughout most of the Western world. This has made him a rockstar within the world of literature – not just in the Nordic countries, but also in both the US and the UK.
In My Struggle, he carefully and with a strong emotional intensity describes his upbringing and family life, which stirred up a significant international debate on the lines between fiction and reality. What is certain, however, is that My Struggle is a work of art that a large number of people have been able to see themselves in – men and women alike.
Since then, Knausgård has published several significant collections of essays, including a series on the seasons, which he wrote for his unborn daughter. 2019 saw the release of the novella entitled The Birds Beneath the Sky, which is a return to fiction with a tightly composed story. It is the basis of a theater production of Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, and the novella contains delicate references to Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard.
Read more about the award and previous recipients at www.andersen-award.com.
Best regards
Jens Olesen
Chairman of the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award committee
For additional information, please contact:
Anja Linnet // anja@have.dk
Sandra Nynne Jensen // sandra@have.dk
