Jalvvi Niillas Holmberg awarded the Saami Council Literature Prize 2026
Kuva: Saamelaisneuvosto / Piera Heaika Muotka
The Saami Council awards the Saami Council Literature Prize 2026 to Jalvvi Niillas Holmberg for the novel Goatnelle.
Niko Mihkal Valkeapää, vice president of the Saami Council
Photo: Saami Council / Piera Heaika Muotka
The jury has unanimously decided that Holmberg will receive this year’s prize. In their assessment, the jury highlights Goatnelle as a novel with beautiful, rich and powerful language, and as a story that addresses major questions through an intimate and personal portrait.
The novel explores themes such as belonging, traditions, responsibility, generations and Sámi spirituality. Through its protagonist, it depicts both the struggle to preserve culture and language, and the inner contradictions that may arise when young Sámi people feel responsible for something greater than themselves.
Holmberg writes about complex social issues in an intimate and sensory way. The novel is described as a story that holds the reader’s attention, while also opening up new ways of thinking about life, the world, and the relationship between people, language and other living beings.
–Goatnelle shows the power of contemporary Sámi literature. Jalvvi Niillas Holmberg writes in a language that challenges, motivates and opens new spaces for the reader, says Niko Mihkal Valkeapää, Vice President of the Saami Council.
The Saami Council Literature Prize was first awarded in 1994. The prize is awarded every other year and alternates between children’s books and literature for adults. The aim of the prize is to encourage authors to write and publish literature in Sámi languages, and to highlight literature of high artistic quality. The Saami Council Literature Prize 2026 was awarded on 17 June in Ohcejohka during the KulturSápmi conference.
About the award winner
Jalvvi Niillas Holmberg is an author and musician with roots in the Deatnu river valley, Sápmi. His literary work includes poetry, prose, drama and screenwriting. Holmberg has written two novels and seven poetry collections. He has performed his poetry around the world, and his texts have been translated into several languages.