The Syrian-Lebanese poet Adonis received the Bjørnson prize in Molde, Norway, on the December 30th. The Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Academy said in a statement that Adonis, which is a pseudonym for Ali Ahmed Said, received the prize for creating a new genre in poetry. Adonis builds bridges between the Arabic poetry tradition and the western ideas represented by Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger and poets such as Hölderlin and Saint-John Perse, according to the academy.
Among Adonis’ famous writings are “If only the Sea Could Sleep”, “The Pages of Day and Night” and “Songs of Mihyar the Damascene”. Adonis has also several times been seen as a serious contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
The Bjørnson prize is awarded annually and is given to a person who promotes literature and knowledge on other cultural forms of expression then the Norwegian on. The prize consists of NOK 100 000 (ca. USD 17 000).