Report on the first nordic women's prize in literature

Abstract

Since 1962 the Nordic Council has awarded each year a prize in literature to a writer in one of its member nations (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden). Each country selects two candidates, and the award is decided by a jury of l0 men (this is meant literally, since only one woman has ever sat on it). The prize is a coveted one. It gives a great deal of prestige to the winner and is usually a guarantee that the author's works will be translated into the other Scandinavian languages and spread to an international audience. Since its founding, however, the prize has never been awarded to a woman, despite the fact that a number of women who are considered leading authors in their own countries, and often have been internationally known, such as Karen Blixen, Tove Ditlevsen, Sara Lidman, Torbj6rg Nedreaas, Bj6rg Vik and Svava Jakobsd6ttir, have been among the candidates. At the second annual Research Conference on Women and Literature at Dr6bak, Norway in January of this year, it was decided to take action which would make both the reading public and the literary establishment aware of this fact, and ultimately help create an awareness that the work of women writers, although it often is concerned with other spheres of experience and problem areas than that of men, is important literature. Thus the Nordic Women's Prize in Literature was born, and it was decided to award the prize to the Finnish author M~trta Tikkaneno* The award was announced simultaneously with the announcement of the winner of the Nordic Council prize. The 26 women at the conference, among whom were representatives from all the Nordic countries except Finland, decided to go out to the reading public to collect money for the award, which was to be presented on February 20th. Despite the fact that there was only one month in which to collect money, the response was overwhelming. A sum of Nkr. 65,000 (ca £6500) was collected, which almost equalled the Dkro 75,000 (ca £7500) from tax funds which were awarded to the winner of the Nordic Council prize. Most donations were small sums given by private persons. M~rta Tikkanen was selected for her poetry collection, ,~rhundradets Kiirlekssaga (The Love Story o f the Century), published in 1978. The poems are concerned with the problems she has had combining the roles of wife, mother of four, and professional woman,