NORLA’s talent programme for the development of new literary voices «New Voices» (Nye stemmer) is a part of the project of Norway as Guest of Honour nation at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2019. The programme has been established in collaboration with Talent Norge and the Norwegian Publishers Association. The recruitment of new talents is a key element in the work of Norway as Guest of Honour nation and an important part of this endeavour is the promotion of new literary voices internationally.
The four candidates who were selected before Christmas are Simen Ekern, Roskva Koritzinsky, Sigbjørn Mostue and Nils Henrik Smith. These individuals were chosen on the basis of nominations from their Norwegian publishers’ editorial staffs and they represent the genres non-fiction, fiction, and literature for children and young people.
HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit has invited the four young authors selected by NORLA to breakfast at Skaugum on 27 January, as a part of the authors’ first meeting.
Read more about the New Voices here.
In collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Embassy in London, NORLA is hosting a special industry event highlighting contemporary Norwegian children’s and young adult literature on November 5.
The event will take place at the Norwegian Ambassador’s Residence.
Norway is Guest of Honour at this year’s Les Boréales festival in Normandy, taking place from 12–22 November.
A strong line-up of Norwegian authors will take part in the festival: Ingeborg Arvola, Martin Baldysz, Brit Bildøen, Thomas Enger, Jørn Lier Horst, Oliver Lovrenski, Aslak Nore, Lars Ramslie and Maria Navarro Skaranger.
During the festival, NORLA will also organise a translation seminar for students at the University of Caen on 17 November. The seminar will have a special focus on Brit Bildøen’s Gult farevarsel (Yellow Warning, Vigilance orange). Bildøen and her French translator Marina Heide will take part in the seminar, which is organized in close cooperation with the University.
The Norwegian Embassy in Paris is a partner in Norway’s Guest of Honour programme.
See the full festival programme.
NORLA will take part in this year’s China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair with its own stand.
The fair will also feature the illustration exhibition first presented at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in spring 2026, when Norway was Guest of Honour. This brings the initiative showcasing Norwegian children’s and young adult literature and illustration to a new international audience.