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Translators are absolutely key to spreading Norwegian literature around the world. Their work is of vital importance and to showcase this work in 2015 we started the interview series «Translator of the Month». Here we become better acquainted with translators from the Norwegian language and their challenging work, which introduces Norwegian literature to all the different languages of the world.

In 2020 our series of interviews became a translator relay, where each translator passes the baton and a question on to a colleague. We are thrilled to continue our interviews with translators of Norwegian literature into a myriad of languages.

Next year, Norway will be Guest of Honour at the Frankfurter Buchmesse. Bringing forth new literary voices internationally is an important goal of the initiative. NORLA has entered into the development program, New Voices, in collaboration with Talent Norway and the Norwegian Publishers’ Association.

Group 5 of New Voices consists of the following authors:

NORLA awards annually a prize to a talented emerging translator who has contributed significantly to the translation of Norwegian literature into foreign languages, as well as to the promotion of Norwegian literature abroad. NORLA’s Translator’s Award is given for translations directly from Norwegian.

NORLA is part of ENLIT, a network of European cultural organizations promoting literature and providing subsidies for translation. Margit Walsø has been leading the network 2019-2024.

Read more and see all members here

Norway was Guest of Honour at the Frankfurter Buchmesse 2019.
The Guest of Honour project comprised hundreds of activities in the German speaking area throughout 2019, and culminated at the book fair in October 2019.

Norway as Guest of Honour at Frankfurt Buchmesse 2019 is the country’s largest overall foreign cultural initiative. The main goals set for the initiative by NORLA were achieved. The goals were to renew the foothold of Norwegian literature in Germany, to create new international interest in Norwegian literature, to showcase Norway as a modern cultural nation and to revitalize the relationship between Norway and Germany through cooperation on literary and cultural projects.

Publishers from the entire world, including from the Nordic region, can apply for NORLA’s subsidies for translations of Norwegian literature.
Below you will find information on translation subsidies granted the last couple of years.

More information about NORLA’s translation subsidies – and how to apply – is available here.

In April 2026, Norway will be the Guest of Honour at the Bologna Book Fair. Established in 1960, this fair is the world’s largest and most important meeting place for the international children’s book industry.

Illustration plays a central role in the fair, and a key element of Norway’s Guest of Honour program will be an exhibition showcasing illustration art from Norwegian books for children and young adults. The exhibition space, approximately 300 m², will be centrally located at the fairground. It will accentuate the high quality of illustrations in Norwegian children’s literature and showcase the diversity of artistic expressions.

In 2019, NORLA launched the project, Poem of the Week, 52 poems throughout the year, in connection with Norway being Guest of Honour at the Frankfurter Buchmesse. We continued our focus on poetry with a new series, Poem of the Week, which, as it did last time, followed a narrative linked to the seasons. The selection was made by Annette Vonberg.

NORLA’s annual reports are avilable in Norwegian here.

An exerpt of NORLA’s report on Norway as Guest of Honour at the Frankfurter Buchmesse 2019 is available in English here

Sabine Richter translates fiction and non-fiction from Norwegian to German. She is originally from East Germany, but has lived and worked for very many years in Norway, as well as the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Spain and Iran. Sabine now lives in beautiful Vienna, but commutes to both Oslo and Madrid.

Her most recent translation work are two novels by Kjersti Anfinnsen, De siste kjærtegn and Øyeblikk for evigheten, which were published as one volume in January 2025: Letzte zärtliche Augenblicke (Septime Verlag).

NORLA started in 2014 a pilot scheme for a translators hotel for translators of Norwegian literature. The scheme has been an unconditional success and has since been renewed annually, with the exeption of the pandemic years.
Click here to read more about the 2025 spring season – May 12-25 (in Norwegian only).

On March 14, the great Norwegian writer Dag Solstad passed away at the age of 83.

The French philosopher and theologian Jean-Luc Marion has been invited to give the first Fosse Lecture, and the German translator Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel has been awarded the Fosse Prize for Translators in 2025. The Fosse Prize will be among the largest of its kind in the world.
At the invitation of the Royal House of Norway, the Fosse Lecture and the award ceremony for the Fosse Prize will take place at the Royal Palace on Thursday 24 April 2025.