Between May 25 and 30, the Norwegian Festival of Literature in Lillehammer will be underway. And this year they are offering a combined physical and digital program focussing on Nordic literature.

This year we at NORLA will be travelling digitally to the festival and are now also offering translators of Norwegian literature the chance to participate in the digital program, totally free of charge. (Last year the festival’s entire digital program was free, however this year digital participation will require a separate pass).

We are pleased to announce that as of May 1, Ellen Trautmann Olerud is NORLA’s Adviser for International Markets.

For everybody working at NORLA, sparking the joy of reading is a true privilege. And today we are happy to celebrate World Book Day by recommending books from our selected spring titles.

You will find more information on all the spring titles here.

In a year where so much change has occurred because of a pandemic, the interest in Norwegian literature abroad has remained remarkably high.
In 2020, NORLA received a total of 660 applications for translation support – a record number (read more). NORLA’s plans needed to adapt to the demands of the corona situation, so all our activities for promoting Norwegian literature were changed to digital alternatives. Through the use of “digital authors” and the development of digital book trade meetings, Norwegian literature has not only reached out it has also found new target groups and audiences. Now you can read more about all the exciting things that happened in 2020.

Read our annual report here (in Norwegian only).

Our translator of the month for April is the French translator Marina Heide. After growing up in a French-Norwegian family in the Paris area Marina now lives in Stockholm. She works mainly with fiction as well as children’s and young adult literature, and will soon be in the spotlight with a new translation of The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas. Marina is also the French voice for Maja Lunde and Merethe Lindstrøm, among others.

We at NORLA are proud and delighted to present our selected titles for the spring: 24 wonderful books which are divided into fiction and non-fiction, for both adults, children and young adults.
See all the selected titles here

You can also watch the authors and illustrators present their books in short-film form.
The films are available here, on our YouTube channel

Are you a Nordic publisher, editor, sub-agent or scout who is interested in publishing and working with Norwegian literature?
Then save the dates 26 – 28 May 2021!

Daniela Stilzebach translates both non-fiction and fiction to German – from Norwegian, Danish and Swedish. She works mainly with non-fiction, especially biographies, art, culture, philosophy and history, and has already translated a number of books in this respect, about Edvard Munch in particular. Daniela’s latest translation from Norwegian is Lars Fr. H. Svendsen’s A Philosophy of Lying, which will be published in autumn 2021. She will soon be starting work on Grethe Bøe’s Mayday (in collaboration with a colleague).

Today, the Norwegian Minister of Culture, Abid Raja, awarded the prestigious Ministry of Culture’s literary prizes for children and young adult literature published in 2020.

A total of NOK 360,000 were awarded in seven different categories for children’s and YA literature; Best Fiction Book, Best Picture Book, Best Non-fiction Book, First Book Award, Best graphic novel/Cartoon, The Illustration Award and The Translation Award.

At NORLA, we celebrate with the graphic novel Women in Battle by Marta Breen and Jenny Jordahl (ill.). This inspiring and important book is (being) translated into 27 languages.
See all here

NORLA’s subsidy scheme for export and market initiatives will contribute to boosting exports, demand and market development for Norwegian books and authors abroad; thereby increasing revenue for the Norwegian literary agencies/publishers concerned. Since the scheme began in November 2019, we have received many strong applications. There are many initiatives being planned – and we are now ready to announce the first projects to be awarded grants this year.

Four export and market initiatives have been selected in this round:

It is uplifting to be able to confirm that interest in Norwegian literature abroad has continued to be remarkably high during a year when so much has changed as a result of a pandemic. When physical meetings and travel are not possible, literature can still provide knowledge and experience. In 2020, NORLA received a record number of applications for translation support – as many as 660 applications – surpassing the number of applications in 2018, which amounted to 651.