After receiving 31 applications by the deadline, Fritt Ord will be awarding 10 grants to critics this year. The successful applicants were: Aleksander Huser (film and TV critic at Ny Tid), Andrew Kroglund (literary critic at Vårt Land), Elise Winterthun (literary critic at Klassekampen), Espen Hauglid (commentator and critic of pictorial art at Morgenbladet), Hedda Fredly (dramatic arts critic at Dagbladet), Heidi Bøhagen (podcast critic at Bergens Tidende), Ketil Slagstad (literary critic at Morgenbladet), Per Christian Selmer-Andersen (dramatic arts critic at Aftenposten), Sindre Hovdenakk (literary critic at VG) and Tomine Sandal (dramatic arts critic at Klassekampen).

“These 10 are among today’s most interesting critics of and commentators on Norwegian culture. We are especially pleased by the fact that six of this year’s 10 writers are being awarded one of Fritt Ord’s Grants for Critics for the first time. This is the first year a grant is being awarded to a person who exclusively reviews podcasts, in recognition of the fact that this is an increasingly more important genre”, remarks Knut Olav Åmås, executive director of Fritt Ord.

The Fritt Ord Foundation’s grant scheme was established in 2015; it is intended to help improve the quality and professionalisation of criticism and reviews. The Foundation strives to give more critics better opportunities to pursue their profession and to spend more time cultivating it. The grants are intended to supplement other income from reviews, on top of the ordinary fees from the newspapers.

In addition to the annual grants for critics, Fritt Ord supports this field in other ways as well. Daily and weekly media and the critics who write for them can apply for project support for specific critical review projects under the call for applications for Norwegian Journalism. This scheme has six ordinary deadlines for applications each year. The next deadline is at 3 p.m. on Friday, 5 August.

For more information about the grants for critics, please contact Executive Director Knut Olav Åmås by email at: knut.olav.amas@frittord.no.

A full list of grant recipients is available on the allocation database (choose “all years” and the category: “grants for critics”). Read more about each year’s allocations here:
• Recipients of the 2015 grants for critics
• Recipients of the 2016 grants for critics
• Recipients of the 2017 grants for critics
• Recipients of the 2018 grants for critics
• Recipients of the 2019 grants for critics
• Recipients of the 2020 grants for critics
• Recipients of the 2021 grants for critics