Gerður Kristný Iceland

Gerður Kristný was born in 1970 and brought up
in Reykjavík and graduated in French and Comparative
Literature from the University of Iceland in 1992. She is now
a full-time writer.

Gerður Kristný has published poetry, short stories, novels
and books for children, and a biography Myndin af pabba –
Saga Thelmu (A Portrait of Dad – Thelma’s Story) for which
she won the Icelandic Journalism Award in 2005. Other
awards for her work include the Children’s Choice Book
Prize in 2003 for Marta Smarta (Smart Martha), the Halldór
Laxness Literary Award in 2004 for her novel Bátur með
segli og allt (A Boat with Sail and All) and the West-Nordic
Children’s Literature Prize in 2010 for the novel Garðurinn
(The Garden).

Four of her poetry collections, Höggstaður (Soft Spot),
Blóðhófnir (Bloodhoof) and Sálumessa (Requiem) and Jarðljós
(Earthlight) have been nominated for the Icelandic Literature
Prize, with Blóðhófnir winning the prize in 2010. Bloodhoof,
Drápa (The Slaying) and Sálumessa (Requiem), translated
into English by Rory McTurk, were published in bilingual
editions by Arc in 2012, 2018 and 2020 respectively.

Gerður Kristný lives in Reykjavík but travels regularly
around the world to present her work. In 2022, she was
awarded the Icelandic Order of the Falcon for services to
Icelandic literature and culture.

(2026)