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íslenska

Einar Már Guðmundsson

Bio

Einar Már Gudmundsson was born in Reykjavík on September 18th 1954. He received a B.A. in Comparative Literature and History from the University of Iceland in 1979 after which he moved to Copenhagen to do graduate work in Comparative Literature at the University of Copenhagen.

Einar's first book, the collection of poetry Er nokkur í kórónafötum hér inni? (Is Anyone Here Wearing the Korona Line?), appeared in 1980. In 1985 he received first prize in a literary competition held by Almenna Bókafélagið, Book Publishers and Book Club, for the novel Riddarar Hringstigans (The Knights of the Spiral Staircase). On top of his novels and poetry books Einar has also sent forward non fiction books, such as books on the economic crash in Iceland in 2008. His books have been translated into several languages and the widely acclaimed novel Englar alheimsins (Angels of the Universe) received the Nordic Council's Literary Award in 1995. Fridrik Thór Fridriksson's movie which is based on the book premiered in Reykjavík on New Year's day in the year 2000. Einar Már also cowrote the scripts for Fridrik Thór's movies Börn náttúrunnar (Children of Nature) and Bíódagar (Movie Days). In 2013, Einar Már received the Swedish Academy's Nordic Prize for his literary contribution. 

Author photo: Hörður Ásbjörnsson.