Hallgrímur Helgason has won the Icelandic Literary Prize in fiction for his novel “Sixty Kilos of Knockouts”, the second volume in his Sixty Kilo-series. He also won the same prize for the first volume back in 2018, Sixty Kilos of Sunshine. This then is the third time Hallgrímur wins the prize, he also won in 2001, for his historical novel inspired by the work and life of Halldór Laxness, The Author of Iceland. 

“The writer’s strengths all come together in this crystal clear and sharply written description of the herring business. The outcome is a true herring waltz, where comedy and tragedy unite in face of the relentless onslaught of time. Not suffering in any way from being the sequel to an award winning novel, it proudly stands in its own right.” (From the prize committee’s verdict.)