Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir

Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir (born 1958) is an Icelandic professor of art history, a novelist, playwright and poet.[1] She received the Nordic Council Literature Prize for Hotel Silence in 2018.

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Auður.
Auður at LiteratureXchange Festival in Aarhus (2019)
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir and Erik Fosnes Hansen (March 2011)

Early life and education

Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir was born in 1958, in Reykjavík. She studied the history of art at Sorbonne, Paris.[2]

Career

Auður works as an assistant professor of art history at the University of Iceland.[3] For a time, she was the director of the university's Art Museum.[4]

Her first novel Upphækkuð jörð (Raised Earth) was published in 1998. It set the stage for her future works in its fine dissection of the smaller things in life.[5]

Her book Rigning í nóvember (Butterflies in November) was lauded as a "moving, layered and optimistic piece of writing".[6] The book won the Tómas Guðmundsson Literary Award.[5]

In 2009, she published Afleggjarinn (The Greenhouse) to mixed reviews. It was described as meticulous and finely crafted, yet lacking a tension both in its language and friction in its emotion.[7] It was also described as a sweetly comic and wry observation of sex, manhood, death and parenthood.[8]

Personal life

Auður has revealed that her temporary residence in Catholic countries and her deep interest in their art and music led her to convert to Roman Catholicism.[9]

Works

Novels
  • Upphækkuð jörð (Raised Earth), 1998
  • Rigning í nóvember, 2004, in English as Butterflies in November, in German as Ein Schmetterling in November [10]
  • Afleggjarinn, 2007, in English as The Greenhouse, also translated into French, Spanish, Dutch and Italian[11][12]
  • Undantekningin (The Exception), 2012
  • Ör, 2016, in English as Hotel Silence
  • Ungfrú Ísland, 2018, in English as Miss Iceland

Poetry
  • Sálmurinn um glimmer (The Psalm of Glimmer), 2010

Theatre
  • Swans mate for life (National Theatre of Iceland, 2014)[13]

Awards
  • 2018 - Bókmenntaverðlaun Norðurlandaráðs: Ör
  • 2016 - Íslensku bókmenntaverðlaunin: Ör
  • 2011 - Prix des libraires du Québec: Rosa Candida (Afleggjarinn í franskri þýðingu Catherine Eyjólfsson). Í flokknum þýðingar (Roman hors Québec)
  • 2010 - Prix de Page (Frakkland): Rosa Candida
  • 2008 - Menningarverðlaun DV í bókmenntum: Afleggjarinn
  • 2008 - Fjöruverðlaunin, bókmenntaverðlaun kvenna: Afleggjarinn
  • 2004 - Bókmenntaverðlaun Tómasar Guðmundssonar: Rigning í nóvember

See also

References
  1. "Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir - Literature Web". City of literature UNESCO (in Icelandic). 15 April 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  2. Peras, Delphine (May 5, 2014). "Audur Ava Olafsdottir, Islandaise d'exception". L'Express. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  3. "Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir". Pushkin Press. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  4. Dagsdóttir, Úlfhildur (2011). "Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir". Literature.is. Archived from the original on 2014-06-06. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  5. "Interviews with Icelandic Authors: Auður A. Ólafsdóttir". Icelandic Literature Center. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  6. Berwick, Isabel (December 27, 2013). "Butterflies in November, by Audur Ava Olafsdóttir". The Financial Times. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  7. Schottenius, Maria (March 23, 2015). "Audur Ava Ólafsdóttir: "Rosa Candida"". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  8. Kyzer, Larissa (December 5, 2011). "Three Percent Review: The Greenhouse". Three Percent. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  9. Guerrera, Antonello (July 16, 2013). "Audur Ava Ólafsdóttir - "Il vero segreto? Sconfiggere la crisi con lo humour"". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  10. DNB entry for Schmetterling in November
  11. Worldcat entry for The Greenhouse
  12. Worldcat entry for Rosa Candida
  13. Walton-Lange, Lucy (November 7, 2013). "Exclusive interview with Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir". Female First. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
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