Nordic countries Guest of Honour at Book World Prague

Among Czechs there has long been a high level of interest in Nordic literature. Our grandparents were eager to get their hands on the books of Knut Hamsun, Sigrid Undset and Selma Lagerlöf; they also went to the theatre to see the plays of Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg. The huge popularity of contemporary Nordic literature is due in no small part to the region’s celebrated crime fiction – Stieg Larsson, Jo Nesbø and Jussi Adler-Olsen are names known by a great many Czechs today.
The Book World Guest of Honour are in 2016 in frame of the campaign #ReadNordic the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The aim of the guest of honour is to present current literary in Nordic literature and introduce us books written by authors coming to the fair.

The wide-ranging programme of discussions will be complemented with book signings, presentations, competitions, exhibitions, and events for children and gastronomes. Many events will be organized directly at the unique Nordic stand (S201) in the middle of the Central hall designed by students from Czech Technical University Markéta Rádková and Monika Fišerová.

Participating Nordic authors and experts are:
Norway: Jostein Gaarder, Jørn Lier Horst, Siri Pettersen, Nils Magne Knutsen.
Denmark: Kaspar Colling Nielsen, Kim Leine, Dorthe Nors, Kirsten Thisted.
Finland: Elina Hirvonen, Katja Kettu, Johanna Sinisalo, Antti Tuomainen.
Iceland: Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, Sjón.
Sweden: Majgull Axelsson, Lotta Lundberg, Bengt Pohjanen, Ulf Stark.

Discussions with writers will be held usually in Nordic languages and interpreted into Czech, in case of discussions with more than two Nordic writers, the common language will be English. Events without participation of Nordic guests will be held in Czech.

See the complete programme of the Guest of Honour here.

Read more about the campaign #Read Nordic.

Upcoming activities

April 14-April 21

Easter Holidays in NORLA

Our office is closed for the Easter holidays as of Monday, April 14. We will be back on Tuesday, April 22.

Wishing you all a Happy Easter!

April 23-April 26

Oslo, Norway

Seminar for aspiring translators of Norwegian literature

NORLA aims to recruit more translators of Norwegian Literature. We look forward to welcoming interested participants to take part in our seminar for new translators, which will be held in Oslo from April 23-26, 2025.

May 1

Deadline: Nominate candidates for NORLA’s Translator's Award 2025

NORLA annually hands out an award to a talented emerging translator of Norwegian literature. The award is given for translations directly from Norwegian as an encouragement towards continued efforts.
The 2025 award will be given to a translator of fiction.

We would very much like to hear from you about deserving candidates!