A Scandinavian dark horse has taken the Independent Foreign Fiction prize ahead of a field which was dominated by eastern European authors and included both the Nobel prize winner Imre Kertesz and Impac winner Tahar Ben Jelloun. The Norwegian author Per Petterson has won the £10,000 prize for his fifth novel, Out Stealing Horses, which the judges called "truly remarkable".

Nadeem Aslam, Ronan Bennett and Colm Toíbín head up the shortlist for the 2006 Impac prize, announced yesterday.