Ragnheiður Gestsdóttir (born 1 May 1953, in Reykjavik) is an Icelandic author, noted for her children's books. Ragnheiður was born in a family of painters and writers. She graduated as a teacher from the Kennaraskóli Íslands in 1973, and took a degree in art history at

Aarhus University Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...

in 1979. She also studied literature at the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( is, Háskóli Íslands ) 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' s ...

. Ragnheiður worked as a teacher in Reykjavík for several years, and was editor of Iceland's National Centre for Educational Materials 1990–96. She has both illustrated and written books for children and teens. Her first book, ''Ljósin lifna'', was published in 1985. Ragnheiður has retold and illustrated various Icelandic folktales, pre-eminently in her book ''Sagan af Hlina konungssyni''. Amongst other prizes, Ragnheiður won the

Icelandic Children's Book Prize The Icelandic Children's Book Prize (Íslensku barnabókaverðlaunin) is a literary prize which is awarded annually (when sufficiently good entries present themselves) by the Verðlaunasjóði íslenskra barnabóka, established by the author Árman ...

for her 2000 book ''Leikur á borði''; and the

Nordic Children's Book Prize The Nordic Children's Book Prize (Danish: Nordisk Skolebibliotekarforenings Børnebogspris also called Nordisk Børnebogspris) is a children's literary prize which was established in 1985 by the Nordic Association of School Librarians (Nordisk Skole ...

in 2005 for her novel ''Sverðberinn''. Her most recent novels include the 2009 ''

Hjartsláttur ''Hjartsláttur'' ('heart-beat') is the fourth novel for young people by Ragnheiður Gestsdóttir. It was published in 2009 in Reykjavík by Mál og menning. Form The novel is a third-person narrative. Each chapter is from the perspective of a p ...

'' and the 2012 ''Myndin í speglinum''. Ragnheiður lives in Hafnarfjörður. She is married and has four children.

Prizes

* 2000 - Íslensku barnabókaverðlaunin: ''Leikur á borði'' * 2001 - Barnabókaverðlaun Fræðsluráðs Reykjavíkur: ''40 vikur'' * 2004 - Barnabókaverðlaun Fræðsluráðs Reykjavíkur: ''Sverðberinn'' * 2005 - Vorvindar IBBY * 2005 -

: ''Sverðberinn''

References

Living people 1953 births Ragnheidur Gestsdottir Ragnheidur Gestsdottir Ragnheidur Gestsdottir Ragnheidur Gestsdottir Ragnheidur Gestsdottir Ragnheidur Gestsdottir {{Iceland-writer-stub