NORLA launched its largest international initiative outside of Europe when Norway was the Guest of Honour at the Cairo International Book Fair in 2024, one of the world’s largest public book fairs, attracting nearly 5 million visitors.

On April 24, the German translator Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel was awarded the newly established Fosse Prize in a dignified and splendid celebration at the Royal Palace in Oslo. He held a wonderful acceptance speech, and we are now thrilled to be able share his words, by popular demand.

Following Jon Fosse being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2023 for both prose and drama, a collaborative initiative was launched to promote contemporary Norwegian drama, by PAHN (Performing Arts Hub Norway), The Norwegian Centre for New Playwriting – NCNP (Dramatikkens hus), and NORLA. The initiative is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This week marks the start of NORLA’s new talent program, New Voices for Children and Young Adults. The program is aimed at Norwegian authors writing fiction and non-fiction for young readers, and its goal is to provide emerging authors with international experience through travel, networking, and a deeper understanding of the outward-facing aspects of being a writer.

This week, we have warmly welcomed five translators to Oslo for a two-week stay at Hotel Bondeheimen, our Translators Hotel.

Jon Fosses German translator Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel discovered Fosse by chance at a NORLA seminar in 1992. Here, he discusses the joy and challenges of translating the Nobel laureate, and trusting the power of simplicity. 

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).

In a very dignified and splendid celebration the German translator Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel received the newly established Fosse Prize and the French philosopher Jean-Luc Marion gave the inaugural Fosse Lecture at the Royal Palace in Oslo.

Norway’s Guest of Honour appearance at the Leipzig Book Fair 2025 has come to an end – and it was a resounding success!
Over the course of four days, around 50 Norwegian authors were presented in approximately 80 events in Leipzig. The two main venues for the Norwegian program – the Norwegian stand at the fair and the prestigious Schaubühne Lindenfels – were packed to the brim every single day.

On Sunday March, 30th, the last day of the Leipziger Bucmhesse, a large crowd of knowledge-hungry visitors braved the rain and lined up outside as the doors of Schaub​ü​hne Lindenfels, the Norwegian Hub during the book fair, opened. In fact, attendance was so high that the event had to be moved from the small 60-seat hall to the main auditorium​—​​even though not all of the books that were presented are yet available in German.​​

Our translator of the month for April is Yu-jin Lee, who translates into Korean from Norwegian, Danish and Swedish. The Nordic fairy tales he read as a child have shaped who he is today. He studied Nordic languages at a university in Seoul, South Korea, then completed a master’s degree in literature at Stockholm University in Sweden. In 2025, he earned a PhD in Comparative Literature at Yonsei University in Seoul. Since 2007, he has translated approximately 80 books into Korean, by Nordic authors such as Hege Siri, Karl Ove Knausgård, Stian Hole, Astrid Lindgren, Tove Jansson, Stig Dagerman and Leif G. W. Persson. The inspiration for his work comes from his beloved cat, Blåhval (Blue Whale).

For a limited time, NORLA guarantees that translation grants awarded to publishers of literature for children and young adults will cover 50 per cent of the translator’s fee, up to a maximum of NOK 100,000 (approx. EUR 8,300). Grants are awarded for translating works of children’s and young adults (YA) books of the genres fiction and general non-fiction, comics and graphic novels, from the Norwegian and Sámi languages. Grants are available only for works originally published in Norway. The guarantee is related to Norway being Guest of Honour at the Bologna Book Fair 2026.