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), for promotion of relations between Muslims 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). 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.Bjørnsonprisen for første gong til to nordmenn NRK. Retrieved 11 March 2014 2012 – Bishop Thomas of al-Qusiyya and Mair, Wojoud Mejalli and David Zonsheine, human rights activists from Egypt, Yemen and Israel.«Disse tre deler Bjørnsonprisen», NRK Møre og Romsdal, 11 October 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012. 2013 – Yaşar Kemal, Turkish author.Bjørnsonprisen til Yaşar Kemal, rbnett.no 9 October 2013 2014 – Kristin Solberg, Norwegian journalist and author.Bjørnsonprisen til journalist Kristin Solberg, nrk.no, 23 September 2014 2015 – Edward Snowden, whistleblower.Edward Snowden får Bjørnson-prisen, aftenposten.no, 2 June 2015 2016 – , Norwegian children's rights activist.Bjørnsonprisen til Cecilia Dinardi, nrk.no, 31 May 2016 2017 – Bruce SpringsteenBruce Springsteen får Bjørnson-prisen, nrk.no, 29 June 2017 2018 – Johannes Anyuru, Swedish poet and author.Svensk forfatter hedres med Bjørnson-prisen, Sunnmørsposten, 27 June 2018 2019 – Carsten Jensen, Danish author and political columnist. 2020 – Maja Lunde, Norwegian writer. 2021 – Sara Omar, Danish-Kurdish author, human rights activist, and poet. 2022 – Niviaq Korneliussen, Greenlandic writer. 2023 – Åsne Seierstad, Norwegian freelance journalist and writer. 2024 – , Danish poet. 2025 – Sofi Oksanen, Finnish writer and playwright.
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