In their statement the jury said:

"In the novel, the main character describes his experiences and revisits his fragmentary memories of life crises in his own family. In poetic and quiet prose, Petterson demonstrates how difficult it is to say those things to each other that we feel we need to say the most."

The Nordic Council's Literary Prize is generally regarded as the most prestigious Nordic literary prize, ranking above any of the national awards. The prize goes to a work of imaginative literature written in one of the Nordic languages. The winner must meet high literary and artistic standards. The prize consists of 47 000 Euro. For a list of previous winners, please click here.

This is the third important prize Petterson has won for I CURSE THE RIVER OF TIME, after being awarded the Norwegian Critics' Prize and the Brage Prize. The book has been sold to 15 foreign publishers so far.

Petterson’s previous novel, OUT STEALING HORSES, is translated into 44 languages and has received a number of prizes both in Norway and internationally, among them The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and The Dublin IMPAC award. Having sold more than 700 000 copies across the world so far, OUT STEALING HORSES is a major bestseller in several countries.