Icelandic Literary Prize

The Icelandic Literary Prize (Icelandic: Íslensku bókmenntaverðlaunin), or Icelandic Literary Award, is an award which is given to two books each year by the Icelandic Publishers Association. The prize was founded on the association's centennial in 1989. One award is for fiction or poetry and the other for academic and non-fiction works. Five books are nominated in each category, and the year's nominations are publicized in the beginning of December, but the prize itself is not awarded until January. Because the year's nominations come in the middle of the Christmas book flood, these books receive a great deal of marketing. Once the books have been nominated, the Icelandic Publishers Association appoints a selection committee which chooses the winners.