Per Petterson's novel "Out Stealing Horses" has won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2006. There were six finalists competing for the prestigious award, and Petterson's novel described as a moving tale about feelings, isolation and the painful loss of innocence took home the GBP 10 000 prize.
27/09/2006 :: Sixteen titles from several countries were originally nominated for the coveted prize, which was awarded at the National Portrait Gallery in London on 2 May. This number was cut down to six finalists that in addition to Petterson's entry, comprised: Tahar Ben Jelloun's "This blinding absence of light", "Mercedes- Benz" by Pawel Huelle, Imre Kertész's "Fatelessness", "The door" by Magdalena Szabó, and Dubravka Ugresic's "The Ministry of Pain".
The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize honours an outstanding work of fiction by a living author which has been translated into English from any other language and published in the United Kingdom in the last year.
The storyline of "Out Stealing Horses" starts in 1948 when the main character Trond is 15 years old and spends a summer in the country with his father. The events—the accidental death of a child, his best friend's feelings of guilt and eventual disappearance, his father's decision to leave the family for another woman—will change his life forever. As a 67-year-old man, and following the death of his wife, Trond has moved to an isolated part of Norway to live a life of solitude. But a chance encounter with a character from the fateful summer of 1948 brings the painful memories flooding back, and will leave Trond even more determined to end his days alone.
Per Petterson, born in 1952, have previously won two top Norwegian literary awards for his novel. His debuted in 1987 with a volume of short stories and he has since written a book of essays and five novels. Petterson, however, reveals to BBC News that he is not one for planning out the plots in advance, and that once he has a few ideas set, the book develops on its own.
"I hate plots," Petterson said to the BBC. "I had some bare notes about a father and son who loved each other—it should be evident from page one that they do… There are scenes that you need, and they come."
"Out Stealing Horses" is translated to English by Anne Born, and the prize money will be shared between the author and the translator.
Thomas Helseth Aastad/ The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs