JUNE 14, 2007—Graywolf Press is delighted to announce that OUT STEALING HORSES by Per Petterson is the winner of the 2007 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. This annual award for fiction comes with a cash prize of 100,000 Euro, the largest international prize for a work of fiction written in any language and published in English. The award was announced in Dublin at 11:00 AM (GMT) by the mayor of Dublin, and is administered by Dublin City Public Libraries. IMPAC (Improved Management Productivity and Control) is an international productivity and management company with headquarters in Florida and operations in 50 countries.

The shortlist for this year’s award included Slow Man by J.M. Coetzee, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, and Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie. Previous winners include The Master by Colm Tóibín (2006), The Known World by Edward P. Jones (2005), This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun (2004), and My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk (2003).

This is the latest triumph for a novel that has enjoyed a string of outstanding successes.

Out Stealing Horses won the Norwegian Booksellers’ Prize and the Critics’ Award for Best Novel, then went on to win Britain’s prestigious Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. The novel has been translated into 24 languages, and has been a surprise bestseller in Norway and Germany. Just published by Graywolf Press, the novel has already received accolades from reviewers and writers alike, from Richard Ford to the Los Angeles Times.

Publisher Fiona McCrae said, “Everyone who reads this extraordinary novel falls in love with it. The craftsmanship is exquisite, the interweaving portrait of the book’s protagonist as an old man and as a teenager in Norway are utterly authentic, and the narrative is highly charged and dramatic, yet strangely calming and intimate. Out Stealing Horses exudes a rare grace that touches readers deeply. We’re delighted for Per Petterson, his translator and for Graywolf—how often are we entitled to boast that we have the best book in the world?”

Out Stealing Horses is the story of Trond, a man who has settled into a rustic cabin in an isolated part of eastern Norway to live the rest of his life with quiet deliberation. A meeting with his only neighbor, however, forces him to reflect on a fateful childhood summer. Petterson’s subtle prose and profound vision make Out Stealing Horses an unforgettable novel.

The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award involves libraries from all corners of the globe, and is open to books written in any language. The Award, an initiative of the Dublin City Council, is a partnership between the Dublin City Council, the Municipal Government of Dublin City, and IMPAC. The Award is administered by Dublin City Public Libraries. Judges for 2007 are Hanan al-Shaykh, Carmen Callil, Gerald Dawe, Almelda Faria, Lilian Faschinger, and Eugene R. Sullivan.

Per Petterson, a former bookseller turned internationally renowned author, is the author of four previous novels, including In the Wake (Picador), which have established him as one of Norway’s best fiction writers. Petterson was born in Oslo to a working-class family. He has worked as a manual laborer, is trained as a librarian, spent twelve years as a bookseller, and was a translator and literary critic before becoming a full-time writer. In April Per Petterson was a featured participant at the PEN World Voices Festival in New York. He plans to return to the States in the fall for events in New York, at the Norwegian Consulate and the 92nd Street Y, and in Minnesota. Paperback rights for Out Stealing Horses have been sold to Picador.

Out Stealing Horses is a Lannan Literary Selection, and is translated from the Norwegian by Anne Born. Anne Born is a poet, critic, and historian, and has translated many works from the principal Scandinavian languages into English, including two previous novels by Per Petterson. Born will receive 25,000 Euro of the prize.

Graywolf Press, based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is an independent literary publisher with a list of about thirty books a year. Graywolf’s award-winning titles include poetry, fiction, memoir, and books about writing. Graywolf has been developing its international list since 2000, with support from the Lannan Foundation.