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Icelandic author wins Nordic literature prize
Apr 12, 2011, 11:16 GMT
Oslo - Icelandic author Gyrdir Eliasson was Tuesday named winner of the 2011 Nordic Council Literature Prize, worth 350,000 kroner (67,000 dollars).
Eliasson was honoured for his short story collection Milli trjann (Between the Trees) for 'stylistically outstanding literary art which depicts inner and outer threats in dialogue with world literature.'
Born in 1961, Eliasson made his debut in 1983. In addition to novels and prose, he has written lyric poetry.
His style has been described as 'a unique combination of crisp, lyrical fantasy and imaginative realism.'
Eliasson was also nominated for the 2000 Nordic Council Literary Prize for another collection of short stories, The Yellow House.
In all, 13 authors and poets were nominated for the 2011 prize. Norwegian-born Beate Grimsrud, who had been tipped by several critics, was nominated by both Sweden, where she lives, and Norway.
Last year, Finnish author Sofi Oksanen won the award.
Eliasson is due to receive the award on November 2 during the Nordic Council Session in the Danish capital, Copenhagen.
The Nordic Council Literature Prize has been awarded since 1962, 10 years after the Nordic Council was formed.
The council is the forum for inter-parliamentary cooperation between the five Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, plus three autonomous territories, including Greenland.
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