First established in 1984, the ‘Finlandia Prize‘ (Finnish: Finlandia-palkinto; Swedish: Finlandiaprisen) is a set of Finnish literary prizes awarded by the ‘Finnish Book Foundation’ to “celebrate reading and highlight new Finnish first-rate literature.” Considered the most prestigious in the nation, they are awarded annually in three categories: fiction, non-fiction and children’s and youth literature. The award sum (as of 2022) is 30.000 euros (originally 100.000 Finnish Marks). Works submitted for nomination may be in Finnish or Swedish, but also works in other languages may be considered. Prior to 2010, only works written by Finnish citizens were allowed but the rules were changed when Alexandra Salmela, a citizen of Slovakia, was nominated. Since 1984, in addition to the fiction category, the ‘Little Finlandia Prize’ (Finnish: ‘Pikku-Finlandia-palkinto’) for the best student essay on literature has been administered by the ‘Finnish Language Teachers’ Union’ in cooperation with the ‘Finnish Book Foundation’. Read more on Kirjasaatio.fi
