Born Halldór Guðjónsson, he adopted the surname Laxness in honour of Laxnes in Mosfellssveit where he grew up, his family having moved from Reyjavík in 1905. He published his first novel at the age of…
Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was a Swedish author. In 1909 she became the first woman to ever receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, "in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imaginat…
Tove Jansson was born and died in Helsinki, Finland. As a Finnish citizen whose mother tongue was Swedish, she was part of the Swedish-speaking Finns minority. Thus, all her books were originally writ…
Gunnar Gunnarsson is one of Iceland's most esteemed writers. From a poor peasant background, Gunnar moved to Denmark in 1907 to get an education. He wrote mainly in Danish throughout his career, in or…
Clarice Lispector was a Brazilian writer. Acclaimed internationally for her innovative novels and short stories, she was also a journalist. Born to a Jewish family in Podolia in Western Ukraine, she w…
Vigdís Grímsdóttir was born in Reykjavík on August 15th 1953. She graduated from the Iceland University of Education with a Teaching Diploma in 1973, received a BA-degree in Icelandic Studies and Libr…
Sjón (Sigurjón B. Sigurðsson) was born in Reykjavik on the 27th of August, 1962. He started his writing career early, publishing his first book of poetry, Sýnir (Visions), in 1978. Sjón was a founding…
Andri Snær Magnason is an Icelandic writer, born in Reykjavik on July 14, 1973. An award winning author published in 40 languages. His most recent book is On Time and Water - a book seeking to explore…
Svava Jakobsdóttir was one of the foremost Icelandic authors of the twentieth century. She was also a leading figure in the campaign for women's rights and wielded a great deal of influence in her own…
Gerður Kristný graduated in French and comparative literature from the University of Iceland in 1992. Her B.A. dissertation was on Baudelaire's Les fleurs du mal. After a course in media studies at th…
Kristín grew up in Hafnarfjörður. She studied Literature and Spanish at the University of Iceland, then pursued Spanish at the Universities of Barcelona and Copenhagen. She has published poetry, novel…
Hildur Knútsdóttir was born in Reykjavík, Iceland. She writes fiction for both adults and teenagers, as well as plays, screenplays and short fiction. Hildur is known for her evocative fantastical fict…
Arnaldur Indriðason has the rare distinction of having won the Nordic Crime Novel Prize two years running. He is also the winner of the highly respected and world famous CWA Gold Dagger Award for the …
Valur Gunnarsson (b.1976) is a historian, author, and journalist. His childhood was divided between Iceland, Norway and Great Britain, and as a teenager he spent his summers in Saudi-Arabia in the aft…
Fríða Ísberg is an Icelandic author and poet based in Reykjavík. Her short story collection ITCH was nominated for The Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2020. Her debut novel THE MARK won The P.O. En…
Icelandic author Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir (1974) studied history in Reykjavík and Salamanca and journalism at Columbia University in New York and previously worked in Copenhagen before moving bac…
