August Prize Winners

Yesterday evening, the winners of the most prestigious book award, the August Prize, were announced at a ceremony in Stockholm. The winner for literature was Göran Rosenberg for his memoir about his father, Ett kort uppehåll på vägen från Auschwitz (A brief stopover on the way from Auschwitz). For best children’s book, Nina Ulmaja won for her picture book, A, B, C å allt om D (A, B, C and everything about D).

Rosenberg’s novel was published by Albert Bonniers Förlag and Ulmaja’s book by Bonnier Carlsen. Both publishers are a part of Bonnierförlagen.

“I keep pinching myself in the arm to understand that I’m awake and I’ve won the best prize there is,” said Ulmaja. “That’s how it feels. Unreal. Bewildering. And utterly fantastic! For me, who talks a lot about the importance of reading, the prize is a win for reading. Finally, love of letters and the knowledge of how reading works has a chance to be widespread.”

“It feels unreal to have won the prize,” says Rosenberg. “More real though is that so many have already read the book and the blizzard of letters I’ve gotten from people deeply moved by it. There is no finer prize for a writer. After that comes the August Prize.”

Read the jury’s thinking behind the awards and more about the prize (in Swedish).