Arne Lygre awarded Telenor’s Culture Prize 2025

"I am deeply grateful for this recognition. Receiving Telenor’s Culture Prize means a lot to me personally, to be included in this line of outstanding artists. It is both inspiring and binding, and I take it as a sign that the intimate and relationship-based also has a place in our common conversation," says Arne Lygre.

Arne Lygre (b. 1968) is one of Norway’s most prominent playwrights and authors. He made his debut in 1998 with the play Mamma og meg og menn (Mother and Me and Men) and has since written several plays and novels that have received great attention both nationally and internationally. His drama is known for its stylistic originality and ability to depict the universal human with both warmth and pain.

Telenor’s Culture Prize – Boundless Communication – has been awarded since 1995 to Nordic artists who excel in music, literature, performing arts, film and visual arts. The prize is worth NOK 500,000 and is intended to inspire cultural innovation and communication across borders. This year, the prize is being awarded for the 30th time.

"Telenor’s Culture Prize is about borderless communication – about connecting people across languages and cultures. Arne Lygre does just that, with language that touches and moves. He reminds us of the power of the unspoken, and how art can open space for understanding and community," says Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer, CEO of Telenor.

Lygre has previously been resident playwright at Nationaltheatret (The National Theatre in Oslo), and his plays have been translated into over 20 languages and performed on stages from Paris to New York, Montevideo to Beijing. He has received the Brage Prize, the Ibsen Prize and the Hedda Award, and is this year nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize, which will be awarded on 21 October.

He is currently out with the play Ikkje ein lyd (Not a Sound), which premiered at Det Norske Teatret (The Norwegian Theatre in Oslo) in the spring of 2025 to glowing reviews. Previously, Tid for glede (Time for Joy) from 2022 has been a great success with over 30,000 tickets sold and has been staged in nine countries. His work I vårt sted (In Our Place) has so far been performed at Nationaltheatret, Den Nationale Scene (The National Stage in Bergen) and Stadsteatern (Stockholm City Theatre), and has further consolidated his position as a central voice in Norwegian and international performing arts.

"Arne Lygre writes with a poetic power that makes the unsaid present. He gives us a language for what we often lack words for, and creates characters that mirror our own inner dialogue," says Martin Revheim, Head of the Jury.

The jury highlights Lygre’s ability to portray the universal human with both warmth and pain, and how he opens space for reflection, resistance and recognition through drama and prose. His texts have had a great impact on the development of modern Norwegian performing arts and are performed on stages around the world.

"Lygre’s drama makes the theatre a meeting place for the common humanity. He shows how we are shaped in the span between what we think and what we say – and how we create ourselves and each other through language," concludes Revheim.

The Telenor Culture Prize 2025 jury consists of Martin Revheim, Project Manager at Ferd and Head of the Jury; Lars Saabye Christensen, Author; Ingrid Lorentzen, Artistic Director of the Norwegian National Ballet; Henrik Mestad, Actor; Alexandra Archetti Stølen, Festival Director of Oslo World; and Randi Winnem Due, Head of Event & Expo at Telenor Group.

Telenor’s Culture Prize – Boundless Communication – is a central element of Telenor’s cultural program. The program aims to bring together artists from different genres and cultures and highlight exciting cultural expressions that contribute to creating diversity, engagement and unique meeting places.

You can read more about Telenor’s cultural programme and previous winners of the Telenor Culture Prize at telenor.com.