Hannes Pétursson (born 14 December 1931) is an

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and writer who has authored a number of books of poetry and other works and received many awards. He is amongst the most widely translated of living Icelandic poets. He is a recipient of the German Henrik Steffens Prize in 1975 and the

Icelandic Literary Prize The Icelandic Literary Prize ( Icelandic: ''Íslensku bókmenntaverðlaunin''), or Icelandic Literary Award, is an award which is given to three books each year by the Icelandic Publishers Association. The prize was founded on the association's cen ...

for his poetry collection '' Eldhylur'' in 1993.

Biography

Hannes was born in and educated in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

. He was 23 years old when he published his first book of poetry, ''Kvæðabók'', which attracted attention. He completed a course in Icelandic Studies and philology at the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

in 1959 and worked for (Cultural Publishing) between 1959 and 1976. By 1966 he had already established himself as one of Iceland's leading poets. Hannes has authored collections of poetry, fiction, narrative elements, short stories and travelogues, a book about the poet

Steingrímur Thorsteinsson Steingrímur Thorsteinsson (19 May, 1831 – 21 August, 1913) was an Icelandic poet and writer. He translated many works of literature into Icelandic, including ''Arabian Nights'' and the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christi ...

, a reference work on literature, and many translations. He was awarded the

for his poetry collection '' Eldhylur'' in 1993 and the German Henrik Steffens Prize in 1975. A writer in ''World Literature Today'' said of him when he won the Icelandic Literary Prize, "Hannes Petursson has long been one of Iceland's most eminent poets, yet he has never done better than now. His craft is without blemish." He is an honorary Writer of Iceland. His poetry has been translated into 12 languages.

Style

Most of his works of poetry are free-form, with many references to national traditions, legends and cultural heritage, national song and folklore. ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

'' says that "early works of Hannes Pétursson show great sensitivity and skill in adapting Icelandic to new, European metres. Pétursson’s later poems (such as those in the collection ''Ur hugskoti'' 976; “Recollections” reveal a movement away from innovative forms to hemore traditional." In some of his prose, Hannes has worked with a traditional Icelandic form known as . , which have a characteristic form and style, chronicle historical events in a particular place, based on oral histories or written accounts.

Selected works

* ', 1955. * ' (''In summer valleys''), 1959. * ' (''Time and places''), 1962. * ', 1964. * ', 1965. * ', 1968. * ' (''Pages of rhyme''), 1971. * ' 1.-2., 1973-1976. * ', 1973. * ', 1974. * ', 1976. * ', 1978. * ', 1979. * ', 1983. * ', 1990. * ', 1991. * ' (''Fire Pit''), 1993. * ', 2006.

Prose

* ' (''Stories from the North''), 1961. * ' (''Letters Of Poetry''), 1973. * ' 1.-3., 1982-1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petursson, Hannes Hannes Petursson Hannes Petursson 1931 births Living people Hannes Petursson Hannes Petursson Hannes Petursson 20th-century Icelandic male writers