Niels Fredrik Dahl (NO)

Norwegian author Niels Fredrik Dahl has recently published the novel Fars ryg (‘Father’s Back’), for which he won the 2024 Nordic Council Literature Prize. An extensive and quiet novel about exploring one’s roots and the untold stories in a father’s life. A son pieces together the story of his father’s childhood, using papers, letters, and old photographs left behind. In the process he also discovers the formation of his own identity.

Dahl’s writings often focus on loneliness and all that we inherit from our parents. He has written both novels, short stories, poetry collections, and plays, and his works have been translated into several languages. In addition to the Nordic Council Literature Prize, he has also received numerous literary awards, including Brageprisen (the Brage Prize) and the Norwegian Ibsen Prize.