The Icelandic Literary Prize, Women's Fiction Prize and DV Cultural Prize

14. March, 2014

The Icelandic Literary Prize was awarded on January 30, in three categories. The award for fiction and poetry went to Sjón for his novel Mánasteinn: Drengurinn sem aldrei var til (Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was), published by JPV. The nonfiction prize went to Guðbjörg Kristjánsdóttir for Íslenska teiknibókin (The Icelandic Model Book), published by Crymogea and the newly minted prize for books for children and young adults went to Andri Snær Magnason for the novel Tímakistan (Timebox).

This is the third time Andri Snær receives the Icelandic Literary Prize. His novel Sagan af bláa hnettinum (published in multiple languages, in English as The Story of the Blue Planet) nabbed the fiction prize in 1999, and Draumalandið (Dreamland) the nonfiction prize in 2006. For a complete list of this year's nominated works, click here.

The winners of the 2013 Icelandic Women's Literature Prize (or Fjöruverðlaunin), were announced February 23. The prize, an annual event for seven years running, was awarded in three categories: fiction and poetry, books for children and young adults, and nonfiction. The fiction prize went to Þórunn Erlu- og Valdimarsdóttir's novel Stúlka með maga (Girl With a Belly), while the prize for children's books went to Lani Yamamoto for Stína Stórasæng (lit. Stina). Guðný Hallgrímsdóttir received the nonfiction prize for Sagan af Guðrúnu Ketilsdóttir. Einsögurannsókn á ævi 18. aldar vinnukonu (The Story of Guðrún Ketilsdóttir. A Micro-Historical Account of the Life of an 18^th Century Maid).

Most recently, the DV Cultural Prize was also handed out. The prize is awarded in numerous categories across the cultural spectrum, two of them pertaining to the written word. The prize for fiction went to Sjón's aforementioned Mánasteinn, and the nonfiction award to Sölvi Björn Sigurðsson's two-volume behemoth Stangveiðar á Íslandi og Íslensk vatnabók (Pole-Fishing in Iceland and The Icelandic Book of Lakes).