Nominees for Norway's perhaps most prestigous literary award was just made official. Two of four nominees in the category of best work of fiction is represented by Cappelen Damm Agency.
Technotika by Heidi Furre
In Technotika a young student moves into a shared house in a small place, where almost everyone has gone away for the summer. At night she goes to the 24h gas station where a young man works, and she tries to deal with her pouring after her little brother died from cancer. At the same time the ecosystem is collapsing around her, birds have fallen from the sky, and strange things are happening. Something, she thinks, has gone wrong with the world.
Extract from the jury's statement:
«The emotional landscapes that unfold in the book take literature about grief to new heights and reveal an authorial voice that is both stylistically confident and exploratory. Technotika is a novel about loneliness, doubt and love which draws long lines from the personal to the collective, and creates an unforgettable reader experience.»
Norwegian Love by Brynjulf Jung Tjønn
Was Brynjulf a child sold across borders? Can he still be glad he was bought by someone in Norway? All he wants is to be part of the country where he grew up, to acknowledge the painful, but also see what's beautiful.
In 2022, Brynjulf Jung Tjønn wrote the best-selling, award-winning poetry collection White, Norwegian Man. At the time, a story broke that there had been problematic aspects to the adoption industry. This shook the self-image and identity of many adopted people, including Brynjulf Jung Tjønn.
Extract from the jury's statement:
«Overall, the way Jung Tjønn presents his own thought and emotional process, and balances the political with the personal in these texts, is deeply moving and impressive.»
The winner is announced 21 of November.
Congratulations to Heidi, Brynjulf and all other nominees!