Tarjei Vesaas' debutantpris

Tarjei Vesaas's debutantpris is a prize awarded annually for the best first literary work in Norwegian. It is awarded by the Norwegian Authors' Union, and the organisation's 9-member Literary Caucus constitutes the jury for the prize. They choose the winner based on a free and independent evaluation on aesthetic criteria.

In accordance with an agreement between the Authors' Union and the Norwegian Publishers' Association, all newly published Norwegian literature is sent to all members of the Literary Caucus. The members thus choose the year's winner without there being any direct application for the prize. The winner is chosen at the Literary Caucus' annual 3-day January meeting, at which the caucus performs most of the tasks within its mandate, concerning stipends, guaranteed income and prizes. The prize is usually awarded in March.

The prize was instituted in 1964 by Tarjei Vesaas with the money he received as winner of the Nordic Council's Literature Prize that year. Reflecting his intent, the literary merit of the work is the most important criterion, but if possible the prize is awarded to a young writer, 35 at the most.^[1]^[2] Vesaas and his wife Halldis Moren Vesaas (who were not themselves involved in the judging) were delighted that in its second year the prize went to Jan Erik Vold, who had been their lodger in summer 1964 at the 'writer's hut' Juvstøyl.

^ Anne Oterholm, "Tarjei Vesaas Debutantpris 2009!", Den norske Forfatterforening 2 March 2010 (in Norwegian)
^ Halldis Moren Vesaas wrote of the establishment of the prize in her memoir, Båten om dagen (1976):
Så snart Tarjei fekk visst at han skulle få denne prisen, hadde han sagt at han ville gje bort dei pengane. Dei skulle settast av til eit stipendfond, det som seinare fekk namnet Tarjei Vesaas' debutantlegat. Det skulle delast ut kvart år til ein talentfull og ung – helst ikkje over 30 år – debutant. Dette at dei som fekk legatet skulle vere unge, grunngav givaren med at han mintest frå si eiga første skrivetid kor mykje ei oppmuntring kunne ha å seie for ein debuterande ung forfattar. Heile ideen viser òg kor positivt innstilt han var til ungdommen og til alt det leitande og eksperimenterande som no tok til å prege den unge diktinga her til lands. (As soon as Tarjei learnt that he was to receive that prize, he had said that he wanted to pay back the money. It was to be put aside for a stipend fund that would later receive the name 'Tarjei Vesaas' debutantlegat' (debut endowment). It was to be paid out annually to a talented and young - at least not over 30 - first-time author. That those who should receive the stipend should be young contributors at the beginning of their careers, since he remembered from his own first time writing how much encouragement could mean to a young author publishing for the first time. The whole idea also shows how positively disposed he was towards youth and towards all the seeking and experimenting which was now beginning to characterise young people's writing here in this country.) Cited from p. 218 in her memoirs, issued together under the title I Midtbøs bakkar (1979 and 1995).

[1] Anne Oterholm, "Tarjei Vesaas Debutantpris 2009!", Den norske Forfatterforening 2 March 2010 (in Norwegian)

[2] Halldis Moren Vesaas wrote of the establishment of the prize in her memoir, Båten om dagen (1976):
Så snart Tarjei fekk visst at han skulle få denne prisen, hadde han sagt at han ville gje bort dei pengane. Dei skulle settast av til eit stipendfond, det som seinare fekk namnet Tarjei Vesaas' debutantlegat. Det skulle delast ut kvart år til ein talentfull og ung – helst ikkje over 30 år – debutant. Dette at dei som fekk legatet skulle vere unge, grunngav givaren med at han mintest frå si eiga første skrivetid kor mykje ei oppmuntring kunne ha å seie for ein debuterande ung forfattar. Heile ideen viser òg kor positivt innstilt han var til ungdommen og til alt det leitande og eksperimenterande som no tok til å prege den unge diktinga her til lands. (As soon as Tarjei learnt that he was to receive that prize, he had said that he wanted to pay back the money. It was to be put aside for a stipend fund that would later receive the name 'Tarjei Vesaas' debutantlegat' (debut endowment). It was to be paid out annually to a talented and young - at least not over 30 - first-time author. That those who should receive the stipend should be young contributors at the beginning of their careers, since he remembered from his own first time writing how much encouragement could mean to a young author publishing for the first time. The whole idea also shows how positively disposed he was towards youth and towards all the seeking and experimenting which was now beginning to characterise young people's writing here in this country.) Cited from p. 218 in her memoirs, issued together under the title I Midtbøs bakkar (1979 and 1995).

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