Jump to content
íslenska

Hallgrímur Helgason

Bio

Hallgrímur Helgason was born on February 18th 1959 in Reykjavík. He studied at the Art Academy of Iceland from 1979-1980, and at the Art Academy of Munich from 1981-1982. Since then, he has worked as both a visual artist and writer.

His first novel, Hella, was published in 1990, followed by several others, as well as plays, collections of poetry and translations. His novel 101 Reykjavik (1996) drew immediate attention and was subsequently translated throughout Scandinavia, Europe, and England. In 1999 it was nominated for the Nordic Council´s Literary Award. A movie of the book, directed by Baltasar Kormákur, one of Iceland´s leading film makers, was produced in 2000 and released worldwide. Baltasar also adapted Hallgrímur’s novel, Þetta er allt að koma (Almost There) for the stage. It premiered at the National Theatre of Iceland, directed by Baltasar, in 2004. He has received a number of awards for his work, such as the Icelandic Literature Prize. 

In addition to novels and poetry, Hallgrímur´s diverse body of work includes plays for both radio and theatre, essays on society and culture for various newspapers, as well as performing stand-up comedy. As a visual artist, Hallgrímur has had numerous solo exhibitions in Iceland and abroad, such as in Boston, New York, Paris, and Malmö; and has been included in a large number of collective exhibitions across the globe.