Hedersprisen overrakt Kjartan Fløgstad av Salman Rushdie

Bragerådets begrunnelse, lest av Salman Rushdie ved utdelingen:

The Brage honorary prize of 2008 is awarded to an author who, since his debut in the 1960’s, has earned the position as one of Norwegian literature’s most unique verbal artists, one of the most persistent political critics and one of the most innovative writers in genres ranging from novels and poetry to non-fiction, including essays, travelogues and biography.

In his works the recipient has depicted the development of the modern Norwegian welfare state, and yet at the same time contextualized this development in ways confronting its political preconditions. He has mapped his world by tightly linking the local and the global, favouring the regional, modern, and industrial folklore while downplaying the status of the centre. The capital; Oslo with its political an cultural elite is persistently subjected to heavy criticism and satire. Inspired by his love of Latin America and Latin American literature, he has made the language of workers, miners and peasants, as well as the lyrics of popular music, a place where almost anything can happen.

The Brage honorary prize of 2008 is awarded to the master of both fiction and non-fiction among contemporary Norwegian writers, Kjartan Fløgstad.