Steinar Bragi (full name: Steinar Bragi Guðmundsson) is an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic writer born 15 August 1975. He has been called 'Iceland's foremost contemporary author, in the estimation of many'.

Career

At the age of 23 he published his first book of poetry, ''Svarthol'', and his first novel, ''Turninn'' ('the tower'), was published in 2000. He studied comparative literature and philosophy 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 ...

. In 2008, his book '' Konur'' ('Women') received great critical and commercial success and was nominated for the Nordic Council literature prize. Current affairs, particularly the 2008–11 Icelandic financial crisis, are prominent in his work from 2008 onwards, such as '' Konur'' and '' Hálendið: Skáldsaga''. Steinar Bragi is sometimes considered to be in the "new wave" of younger Icelandic authors influenced by popular culture and in his case the grotesque, with influences from horror writers such as H. P. Lovecraft. He is also notable as a poet. Most of Steinar Bragi's early writing was published by the Icelandic publishing house Bjartur. In 2008, however, he changed to

Mál og menning Mál og menning ('language and culture') is an Icelandic publishing house, established in 1937. The press has published the work of many of Iceland's best known authors, among them Þórbergur Þórðarson, Jóhannes úr Kötlum, Svava Jakobsdótti ...

.' ww.mbl.is/greinasafn/grein/1252473/ Steinar Bragi farinn frá Bjarti, ''Morgunblaðið'' (31 October 2008). During the transition, his novel ''Konur'' was accordingly first published by the avant-garde collective

Nýhil Nýhil was an Icelandic avant-garde small press and association of young writers, founded around 2002-2004 by Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl and Haukur Már Helgason, followed shortly by Grímur Hákonarson, and ceasing operation around 2011. History T ...

before being republished by Mál og menning.

Works

*''Svarthol'' (Black Hole), poems, Nykur, 1998 *''Augnkúluvökvi'' (Eyeball liquid), poems, Nykur, 1999 *''Turninn'' (The Tower), prose, Bjartur, 2000 *''Ljúgðu gosi, ljúgðu'' (Lie Pinocchio, lie), poems, Bjartur, 2001, *''Áhyggjudúkkur'' (Worrydolls), novel, Bjartur, 2002 *"Draumar um bin Laden" (Dreams of bin Laden), play, ''On War'', Nýhil, 2003 *''Sólskinsfólkið'' (The Sunshine People), novel, Bjartur, 2004 *''Litli kall strikes again'' (Little guy strikes again), prose, Nýhil, 2005 *''Útgönguleiðir'' (Exits), prose, Nýhil, 2005 *''Hið stórfenglega leyndarmál Heimsins'' (The Magnificent Secret of The World), novel, Bjartur, 2006 *'' Konur'' (Women), novel, Nýhil, 2008; 2nd edn Mál og Menning, 2009 *''Himinninn yfir Þingvöllum: Þrjár sögur'' (The sky over Þingvellir: three stories), novel, Mál og menning, 2009 *'' Hálendið: Skáldsaga'' (The Highlands), novel, Mál og mennings, 2011 *''Reimleikar í Reykjavík'' (The Haunting of Reykjavík), JPV, 2013 *''Kata'' (Katie), novel, Mál og menning, 2014

References

External links

Book of the month: WomenForlagið publisher
1975 births Steinar Bragi Living people {{Iceland-writer-stub