Literary award · since 1989

Icelandic Literary Prize

Literary award (1989-). Established 1989.

About Icelandic Literary Prize

The Icelandic Literary Prize (Icelandic: Íslensku bókmenntaverðlaunin), or Icelandic Literary Award, is an award which is given to three books each year by the Icelandic Publishers Association. The prize was founded on the association's centennial in 1989. One award is for fiction or poetry, one for children's books and one for academic and non-fiction works. Five books are nominated in each category, and the year's nominations are publicized in the beginning of December, but the prize itself is not awarded until January. Because the year's nominations come in the middle of the Christmas book flood, these books receive a great deal of marketing. Once the books have been nominated, the Icelandic Publishers Association appoints a selection committee which chooses the winners.

From the Wikipedia article “Icelandic Literary Prize”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Recent winners

YearWinnerWinning work
2015Einar Már Guðmundsson—
1991Guðbergur Bergsson—
—Steinunn Sigurðardóttir—
—Thor Vilhjálmsson—
—Sjón—
—Hallgrímur Helgason—
—Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir—
—Gyrðir Elíasson—

From Wikidata; the list may be incomplete for some years.

Eligibility and entering

Check the official rules of the Icelandic Literary Prize for the current eligibility window, accepted formats, residency or language requirements and any entry fee. For most established prizes the publisher submits on the author's behalf, often with a limit on entries per imprint.

If you are self-published, look for an explicit statement that independently published books are accepted, and budget for entry fees and copies for judges.

Sources & data