Norwegian author Jo Nesbø and the comedy-singing duo Ylvis have both won awards for helping put Oslo and Norway on the literary and musical maps during the past year. Neither winner is a stranger to prize-winning fame and even some fortune.
Nesbø, who already has won a string of awards and international recognition, won the Oslo bys kulturpris (City of Oslo’s Culture Prize). It’s given to the person or group who has made a significant cultural contribution to the city’s cultural life. Nesbø’s series of crime novels, most of them set in Oslo, have raised awareness of the city, claimed the prize jury.
The Ylvis brothers won a new prize from the travel and tourism division of employers’ organization NHO for also drawing attention to Norway, through their hit music video The Fox. NHO officials claimed Ylvis “has struck a universal nerve through the use of irony and absurd humour around an unexpected song theme.” Their video “attracted attention to Norway in a completely new manner.”
NHO’s award came as the brothers also won a “Webby Award” in New York this week, widely considered the “Oscars of the Internet.” The duo is now poised to launch an entertainment tour of Norway this summer, performing in such cities and towns as Molde, Stavern and Drammen.
newsinenglish.no staff
