Icelandic Authors

Bergsveinn Birgisson holds a doctorate in Norse philology and has an expansive background in folklore, oral histories, and lyrical poetry. Birgisson is also happy having learnt about the cultural institution a sheep farm represents.

A true researcher at heart, Birgisson has spent his life studying language and how it represents the truth of the human condition. He currently resides in Bergen, Norway, where he continues to write classical tales.

Birgisson's work has been widely recognized through prestigious awards and nominations.

Further information

Works in translation

• Lifandilífslækur (Vitality Brook) Bjartur, 2018

Austria (Residenz Verlag) transl. Elenore Gudmundsson; Hungary (Corvina); Italy (Iperborea) transl. Silvia Cosimini; Israel (Lesa Press); Norway (Vigmostad & Bjørke) transl. Oskar Vistdal

•  Svarti víkingurinn (The Black Viking) Bjartur, 2016

Brazil (Globo); Czech Republic (Albatros Media); Denmark (Gyldendal); Egypt (Al Arabi Publishing); Estonia (Varrak); Finland (Bazar); Hungary (Lira); Italy (Iperborea); Norway (Vigmostad & Bjørke); Sweden (Bazar); Paramount Pictures and Anonymous Content (screen rights)

• Geirmundar saga Heljarskinns (Saga of Geirmund Heljarskinn) Bjartur, 2015

Norway (Pelikanen Forlag)

• Svar við bréfi Helgu (Reply to a letter to Helga) Bjartur, 2010

Columbia (Poklonka editores); Denmark (C&K); Egypt (Al Arabi); Finland (Bazar Kustannus Oy); France (Zulma); Israel (Lesa Press); Italy (Bompiani); Norway (Pelikanen Forlag); Spain (Lumen); Sweden (Bazar Förlag); Turkey (Palto); Film rights: ZikZak Film, Iceland; Theatre rights: Norway, France, Iceland, Denmark

• Handbók um hugarfar kúa (Manual on the Mentality of Cows) Bjartur, 2009

Denmark (C&K Forlag); Norway (Pelikanen forlag)

• Landslag er aldrei asnalegt (Landscape is never corny) Bjartur, 2003

Denmark (C&K forlag); France (Actes Sud); Germany (Residenz Verlag); Italy (Bompiani); Norway (Pelikanen Forlag)

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Sigrún Pálsdóttir completed a PhD the History of Ideas at the University of Oxford in 2001, after which she was a research fellow at the University of Iceland, and the editor of Saga, the principal peer-reviewed journal for Icelandic history. Her historical works include the 19^th century biography Þóra biskups (Thora. A Bishop's Daughter, 2010) and Sigrún og Friðgeir (Uncertain Seas, 2013), a story of a young couple and their three children who were killed when sailing from New York to Iceland aboard a ship torpedoed by a German submarine in 1944. Sigrún's first novel Kompa (History. A Mess, 2016/2019) is a satirical fiction about a young historian who realizes that the premises for her doctoral thesis is unfounded. Her second novel and most recent work is the novel Delluferðin (Runaround, 2019), a tragicomic tale about the preservation of cultural treasure in 19^th century Iceland and New York.

Pálsdóttir's works has been nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize, Icelandic Women's Literature Prize, Hagthenkir Prize, DV Cultural Prize and Icelandic Booksellers Prize.

Works in translation

• Kompa (History. A Mess) 2016
  Estonia (Kirjastus Salv, 2024), UK (Peirene Press 2022), USA (Open Letter, 2019)
• Delluferðin (Embroidery ) 2019
  

  Croatia (Vukovic & Runjic 2022),

  Egypt (Mahrosa 2024), France (Editions Métailié 2022), Hungary (POLAR Egyesület 2024), Italia (Bompiani 2024), North Macedonia (Antolog 2024), Serbia (Treci Trg 2024), USA (Open Letter 2022) 
• Dyngja (Boudoir) 2021
  Hungary (POLAR Egyesület 2024)

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Halldór Guðmundsson was born in Reykjavík in 1956, brought up in Germany and studied in Denmark. He has worked as a publisher for Mál og menning, at that time Iceland's largest publisher, written several books, the most well known being a biography of the Icelandic Nobel prize laureate, Halldór Laxness, for which he was awarded The Icelandic Literary Prize for best work of non-fiction in 2004. He has also written Writer‘s Lives, a parallel biography of the writers Gunnar Gunnarsson and Þórbergur Þórðarson, and three books in German, among them one on the Icelandic financial crisis, Wir sind alle Isländer, together with Dagur Gunnarsson. For five years, Halldór Guðmundsson was the CEO of Harpa, the concert hall in Reykjavík. He has been the project manager for a Guest of Honour country at the Frankfurt book-fair twice; Iceland (2011), and Norway (2019).

Further information

Works in translation

• Halldór Laxness – ævisaga (Halldór Laxness – A Biography) 2004

Denmark (Vindrosen, 2010) Halldór Laxness – en biografi, transl. Kim Lembek and Rolf Stavnen; Germany (btb Verlag, 2008) Halldór Laxness – eine Biographie, transl. Helmut Lugmayr; Norway (Tiden, 2007) Halldór Laxness – en biografi, transl. Silje Beite Løken and Ine Camille Bjørnsten; Sweden (Leopard 2008) Halldór Laxness – en biografi, transl. Inge Knutsson; UK (MacLehose Press, 2008) The Islander – a Biography of Halldór Laxness, transl. Philip Roughton

• Halldór Laxness – Leben und Werk, a monography, German in cooperation with Helmut Lugmayr, Steidl, Göttingen 2002. Revised edition Halldór Laxness – Sein Leben, Steidl, Göttingen 2011

• Wir sind alle Isländer, von Lust und Frust in der Krise zu sein, with Dagur Gunnarsson, btb Verlag München 2009

The Netherlands (Cossee Publishers Amsterdam, 2009) Wij zijn allemaal Ijslanders, transl. Henriette van Weerdt-Schellekens

• Mamúska – sagan um mína pólsku ömmu, Reykjavík 2015

Germany (btb Verlag München 2010) Mamutschkas Lebensrezepte – Ich bin nicht verrückt, aber extravagant

• Iceland – Land of Stories

Germany (Corso / Verlagshaus Römerweg, 2021) Island: Insel aus Geschichten, transl. Kristof Magnusson

English (Forlagið, 2021) Land of stories, transl. Steingrímur Teague

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Steinunn Sigurðardóttir is one of Iceland´s most highly acclaimed novelists and poets and has sustained a writing career since 1969, as well as a distinguished career in journalism. She has contributed greatly to the international recognition of contemporary Icelandic literature, being one of the most frequently translated living Icelandic writers. Her first novel, The Thief of Time was made into a French feature film and later adapted to the stage by The National Theatre of Iceland. Sigurðardóttir's book about President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was an all-time bestseller in Iceland. Her latest book of non-fiction is Heiða, The Mountain Farmer, a true story that is being published by leading European publishing houses.

Further information

Works in translation

• Heiða, fjalldalabóndinn (Heida: A Shepherd at the Edge of the World) 2016

Denmark (Klim), Finland (Like), France (Seuil), Germany (Hanser), Norway (Gloria), Italy (Mondadori), Poland (Kobiece) transl. Jasek Godek, World English (Quercus/John Murray) transl. Philip Roughton, Serbia (Clio), Spain (Capitan Swing), The Netherlands (HarperCollins)

• Gæðakonur (Women of Quality) 2014

Poland (Kobiece), France (Editions Heloise d'Ormesson) transl. Catherine Eyjólfsson, Norway (Gloria)

• Jójó (Yoyo) 2011

France (Editions Heloise d'Ormesson) transl. Catherine Eyjólfsson, Germany (Rowohlt) transl. Coletta Bürling, The Netherlands (Singel Uitgeverijen), UK (World Editions)

• Góði elskhuginn (The Good Lover) 2009

Denmark (Gyldendal), Germany (Rowohlt), Macedonia (Antolog), The Netherlands (World Editions), World English (World Editions)

• Sólskinshestur (The Sunshine Horse) 2005

Denmark (Gyldendal) transl. Mette Fanø, France (Editions Heloise d'Ormesson) transl. Catherine Eyjólfsson, Germany (Rowohlt) transl. Coletta Bürling, Sweden (Wahlström & Widstrand)

• Hundrað dyr í golunni (A Hundred Doors Clanging in the Winds) 2002 

Sweden (Wahlström & Widstrand) John Swedenmark, France (Editions Heloise d'Ormesson) Catherine Eyjólfsson

• Jöklaleikhúsið (Theater at the Glacier) 2001
  

Denmark (Gyldendal) Mette Fanø; Finland (Otava), Sweden (Wahlström & Widstrand) John Swedenmark, Germany (Rowohlt) Coletta Bürling 

• Hanami 1997

Sweden (Forum) 1999

• Hjartastaður (Place of the Heart) 1995

World English (Amazon Crossing) Philip Roughton, Denmark (Rosinante), Finland (Otava), France (Denoël), Germany (Rowohlt) transl. Coletta Bürling, Norway (Cappelen), Sweden (Trevi)

• Ástin fiskanna (The Love of Fish) 1993

China (International Radio Press) Xinyu Zhang, Germany (Rowohlt) transl. Coletta Bürling, Denmark (Rosinante), Korea (IRE), Sweden (Trevi)

• Síðasta orðið (The Last Word) 1990

Sweden (Trevi)

• Tímaþjófurinn (The Thief of Time) 1986

Denmark (Rosinante), France (Flammarion), Germany (Rowohlt), Sweden (Wahlström & Widstrand), The Netherlands (Manteau)

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Gisli Pálsson (Ph.D., University of Manchester, 1982), is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Iceland. He has received a number of Icelandic and international honors for his academic work, for instance, he was recently elected Honorary Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. In 2000 he received the Rosenstiel Award for research from the University of Miami. Pálsson has served on various international boards and committees, including the European Science Foundation. He has written over 120 articles in scientific journals and edited books and has published, edited, or co-edited more than 20 books.

Works in translation

• Fjallið sem yppti öxlum (Down to Earth) 2017  

France/ Switzerland/Luxembourg (Gaia) transl. Carine Chichereau; World English (Punctum Books) transl. Anna Yates and Kathrina Downs-Rose

• Maðurinn sem stal sjálfum sér (The Man Who Stole Himself) 2014  

World English (University of Chicago Press) transl. Anna Yates; France/ Switzerland/Luxembourg (Gaia) transl. Carine Chichereau; Denmark (Rebel With a Cause) transl. Iben Philipsen

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Aðalsteinn Ingólfsson (b. 1948) is an art historian, curator, poet and translator, educated at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, the Courtauld Institute of Art in London and the University of Lund, Sweden. He is the author and co-author of some 35 books on Icelandic art and culture. Two of his books have been nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize in non-fiction category. He has curated well over 100 exhibitions of art in Iceland, Sweden and Canada and also lectured on Icelandic art in divers countries.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Ingolfsson was also active as a cultural editor of Icelandic newspapers and magazines. For his writings on Icelandic design he was awarded the prestigious Swedish Söderberg Prize in 1999, along with four other Scandinavian critics.

Works in translation

• Patrick Huse: Nordiske landslap (co-authored by Jan Ake Petterson and Öysten Loge, 1994, English and Norwegian, translators Inger Fluge Mæland and Aðalsteinn Ingólfsson, Cappelen, Oslo
• Leifur Breiðfjörð, 1995, English and German, translators D. Schwarz and author, Mál og menning, Reykjavik and Scanbacher International, Germany
• Mikines, ævi og list, 2006, Nesútgáfan, Reykjavík, main text in English by author, Faroese translation by Bárður Jákupsson, Danish translation by Knud Michelsen

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Gísli Sigurðsson (b. 1959) is a Research Professor at the Árni Magnússon Institute, at the University of Iceland. He studied in Iceland, Canada and Ireland and has served as a Visiting Professor in Winnipeg, Stavanger and Berkeley. He works on orality and textualisation, in the eddas, sagas and more recent folklore. Gísli has published monographs on his research in English (Gaelic Influence in Iceland (1988, 2nd ed. 2000) and Medieval Icelandic Saga and Oral Tradition (2004)) as well as in Icelandic (Leiftur á horfinni öld (2013)). He has edited a complete annotated edition of Eddic poetry (1998) and a collection of settlement lore from Canada and the US: Sögur úr Vesturheimi (2012); in addition to curating exhibitions on the settlement of Iceland, the Vinland voyages and the manuscripts. His current work evolves around ethnic astronomy and the social role of narratives of both the mythical and saga kind.

Further information

Works in translation

• Túlkun Íslendingasagna í ljósi munnlegrar hefðar: Tilgáta um aðferð“ (Rit 56). Stofnun Árna Magnússonar á Íslandi. Reykjavík 2002. Trans. by Nicholas Jones: The Medieval Icelandic Saga and Oral Tradition: A discourse on Method. Publications of the Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England: Harvard University Press 2004. Online edition 2018: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebook:CHS_SigurdssonG.The_Medieval_Icelandic_Saga_and_Oral_Tradition.2004
• Introduction and notes in The Vinland Sagas: The Icelandic Sagas about the First Documented Voyages across the North Atlantic. Penguin Books 2008.

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