Norwegian Ibsen Award goes to Christopher Nielsen

Christopher Nielsen. Photo: Nfi.no

The winner of The Norwegian Ibsen Award 2009 is comics artist Christopher Nielsen. It was announced during the award ceremony at Ibsenhuset in Skien on Sept. 11.

Christopher Nielsen was born in Olso in 1963. For 20 years he has been considered one of the most prominent comics artist of Norway.

His first cartoon was published in Gateavisa in 1980. He has published 19 cartoon strips. He directed and animated “Friday Night Fever” (1996), which won the Viewers’ Award at Oslo Animation Festival and received positive reviews at the Short Film Festival the same year. He wrote and directed an animation series, produced by AnimagicNet AS and NRK in 2000. In cooperation with Dag Rønningen he wrote a 24 episodes series totalling 12 minutes for the internet (2000).

He won the Ibsen Award for his play “Verdiløse menn” (“Wortheless men”) initially staged at Torshovteatret in Oslo on March 5, 2008. In the play “Verdiløse menn” the characters are depicted with satirical humor and thoughtful consideration. Nielsen draws a picture of four people at the bottom of the social ladder.

The Norwegian Ibsen Award is given out by the Municipality of Skien and is the only award in Norway for contemporary dramatists. The Norwegian Ibsen Award was first handed out in 1986 and is of a total of NOK 150 thousand.

Source: Nfi.no / Ibsen