Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir (born 1958) 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 ...

ic professor of

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

, a

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and

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 ...

. She received the

Nordic Council Literature Prize The Nordic Council Literature Prize is awarded for a work of literature written in one of the languages of the Nordic countries, that meets "high literary and artistic standards". Established in 1962, the prize is awarded every year, and is worth ...

for ''Hotel Silence'' in 2018 and the Médicis Foreign Award for ''Miss Iceland'' in 2019.

Early life and education

Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir was born in 1958, 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 ...

. She studied

history of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetics ...

at the Sorbonne,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Career

Auður works as an assistant

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

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 ...

. For a time, she was the director of the university's Art Museum. 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. Her book ''Rigning í nóvember'' (''Butterflies in November'') was lauded as a "moving, layered and optimistic piece of writing". The book won the Tómas Guðmundsson Literary Award. In 2009, she published ''Afleggjarinn'' (''The Greenhouse'') to mixed reviews. It was described as meticulous and finely crafted, yet lacking tension both in its language and friction in its emotion. It was also described as a sweetly comic and wry observation of sex, manhood, death and parenthood.

Personal life

Auður has revealed that her temporary residence in Catholic countries and her deep interest in their

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

and

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

led her to convert to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Works

Novels

* ''Upphækkuð jörð'' (''Raised Earth''), 1998 * ''Rigning í nóvember'', 2004, in English as ''Butterflies in November'', in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

as ''Ein Schmetterling in November'' * ''Afleggjarinn'', 2007, in English as ''The Greenhouse'', also translated into

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

* ''Undantekningin'' (''The Exception''), 2012 * ''Ör'' (''Scar''), 2016, in English as ''

Hotel Silence ''Hotel Silence'' () is a 2016 novel by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir. Premise The novel deals with a man, Jónas Ebeneser, who's in his late 40s, poor, abandoned by his wife, and suffering his midlife crisis. After he realises that his daughter isn ...

'', also translated into Portuguese, Swedish (Ärr) and Estonian as Arm. * ''Ungfrú Ísland'', 2018, in English as ''

Miss Iceland The Miss Iceland or Miss Universe Iceland () is a national beauty pageant in Iceland. Beginning in 2023, the winner represents Iceland at Miss Universe pageant. History The competition has been carried out since 1950; in the first year, it wa ...

'', also translated into

* ''Dýralíf'', 2020, in English as '' Animal Life''. * ''Eden'', 2022 * ''DJ Bambi'', 2023

Poetry

* ''Sálmurinn um glimmer'' (''The Psalm of Glimmer''), 2010

Theatre

* ''Swans mate for life'' (National Theatre of Iceland, 2014)

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

References

External links

*
Info
*
literature.is
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olafsdottir, Audur Ava 1958 births Living people Audur Ava Olafsdottir Audur Ava Olafsdottir Audur Ava Olafsdottir Audur Ava Olafsdottir Prix Médicis étranger winners Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism Audur