The prestigious prize is given to the author of the best fiction debut from the preceding year, selected by the Norwegian Writers’ Union.

Noting the Twin Peaks-like atmosphere of the small town which is the backdrop to all the stories in the collection, the jury said in their statement:

“This is a book which offers idiosyncratic and original interpretations of the Norwegian reality in the year 2008 … The social setting is on the one hand uncomfortably recognizable, but at the same time the author has a knack for the burlesque and the eerie … Here dead people go on living, populist politicians struggle to hide their snake tongues and the Snåsa Man [Norway’s most famous healer”] is never far off.

The author doesn’t shy away from hard hitting literary devices, familiar from the horror story, the fairy tale or the crime novel, and he succeeds in making these devices sustainable because of his alert, sensitive prose, which often opens up towards silence."

Only a week after winning the Vesaas' Prize, Sveen was selected by Jo Nesbø to share the The Readers' Prize with him. The Readers' Prize is selected by votes from all members of the largest of the Norwegian book clubs, Bokklubben Nye Bøker, and half of the prize money is to be passed on to a promising young writer of the winner's own choosing. This year's winner, Jo Nesbø, chose Lars Petter Sveen.

DRIVING FROM FRÆNA also won Sveen the Aschehoug Debutant Grant 2008.