Guðbergur Bergsson (16 October 1932 – 4 September 2023) was an Icelandic writer born in

Grindavík Grindavík () is a fishing town in the Southern Peninsula district of Iceland, not far from Þorbjörn, a tuya (a type of flat-topped, steep-sided volcano). It is one of the few towns with a harbour on this coast. Most of the inhabitants work ...

. He attended 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 his Teaching degree and then studied literature at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

. He was one of the leading translators of

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 ...

works in Iceland. In Barcelona, he met and engaged with the publisher and writer . His first book came out in 1961. He has had twenty books in all including poetry and children's literature. He has won 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 ...

twice. In 2004, he won the

Swedish Academy Nordic Prize The Nordic Prize (''Swedish'': nordiska pris) is a literary award presented annually by the Swedish Academy. The recipient is someone from the Nordic countries who has done significant work in any of the Academy's areas of operations or interests. ...

, known as the 'little Nobel'. Bergsson died on 4 September 2023, at the age of 90.

Works

* ''Músin sem læðist'', 1961 * ''Tómas Jónsson, metsölubók'' (1966). Translated by Lytton Smith as ''Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller'' (Open Letter, 2017). * ''Ástir samlyndra hjóna'', 1967 * ''Anna'', 1968 * ''Það sefur í djúpinu'', 1973 * ''Hermann og Dídí'', 1974 * ''Það rís úr djúpinu'', 1976 * ''Saga af manni sem fékk flugu í höfuðið'', 1979 * ''Sagan af Ara Fróðasyni og Hugborgu konu hans'', 1980 * ''Hjartað býr enn í helli sínum'', 1982 * ''Leitin að landinu fagra'', 1985 * ''Froskmaðurinn'', 1985 * '' Svanurinn'' (1991). Translated by Bernard Scudder as '' The Swan'' (Mare's Nest, 1997). * ''Sú kvalda ást sem hugarfylgsnin geyma'', 1993 * ''Ævinlega'', 1994 * ''Lömuðu kennslukonurnar'', 2004 * ''Leitin að barninu í gjánni - Barnasaga ekki ætluð börnum'', 2008 * ''Missir'', 2010 * ''Hin eilífa þrá'', 2012 * ''Þrír sneru aftur'', 2014

Adaptation

In 2017, the Icelandic film director

Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir (born 1 August 1984) is an Icelandic film director and screenwriter. Ása graduated with an MA in filmmaking from Columbia University in 2012. Ása's 2017 feature film, ''The Swan'', was based on Guðbergur Bergs ...

shot her first movie ', the adaptation of the '' Svanurinn.'''The Swan': Film Review
''hollywoodreporter.com'', 27 October 2019

Works

Adaptation

References

Further reading