Jón Kalman Stefánsson (born 17 December 1963) is an Icelandic author.

Biography

Jón Kalman was born 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 grew up there and in

Keflavík Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129. In 1995, Keflavík merged with nearby Njar ...

. From 1975 to 1982, he lived in western Iceland, where he worked different jobs after finishing high school. From 1986 to 1991, he studied literature 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 ...

, but did not pass an important exam. During this time, Stefánsson taught courses at high schools and wrote articles for the Icelandic newspaper ''

Morgunblaðið ''Morgunblaðið'' (, ''The Morning Paper'') is an Icelandic daily newspaper. ''Morgunblaðið''s website, mbl.is, is the most popular website in Iceland. It is currently the country's only daily printed newspaper and the newspaper of record. Hi ...

''. Between 1992 and 1995, he lived off various jobs in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Afterwards he returned to Iceland and worked as a librarian for the Municipal Library in

Mosfellsbær Mosfellsbær (, colloquially Mosó) is a town in south-west Iceland, east of the country's capital, Reykjavík. The coat of arms of the municipality is a tightly-knotted triquetra, a symbol often used in Celtic knotwork and strongly associated ...

. Since then, he has been living as an independent author in Iceland. In 2017 his novel ''Fish Have No Feet'' was nominated for the

Man Booker International Prize The International Booker Prize (formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize) is an international literary award hosted in the United Kingdom. The introduction of the International Prize to complement the Man Booker Prize, as the Boo ...

. He has been nominated for the

Nordic Council's 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 ...

four times.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Skurðir í rigningu'' (1996, "Ditches in rain") * ''Sumarið bakvið Brekkuna'' (1997, "The Summer Behind the Hill") * ''Birtan á fjöllunum'' (1999, "The Light on the Mountains") * ''Ýmislegt um risafurur og tímann'' (2001, "A Few Things about Giant Pines and Time") * ''Snarkið í stjörnunum'' (2003, "Sparkle in the stars") * ''Sumarljós og svo kemur nóttin'' (2005) / ''Summer Light and Then Comes the Night'' (HarperVia (imprint of HarperCollins), 2020, translator Philip Roughton) * ''Himnaríki og helvíti'' (2007) / ''Heaven and Hell'' (

MacLehose Press Quercus is a formerly independent publishing house, based in London, that was acquired by Hodder & Stoughton in 2014. It was founded in 2004 by Mark Smith and Wayne Davies. Quercus is known for its lists in crime (publishing such authors as El ...

, 2010) * ''Harmur englanna'' (2009) / ''The Sorrow of Angels'' (MacLehose Press, 2013) * ''Hjarta mannsins'' (2011) / ''The Heart of Man'' (MacLehose Press, 2015) * ''Fiskarnir hafa enga fætur'' (2013) / ''Fish Have No Feet'' (MacLehose Press, 2016) * ''Eitthvað á stærð við alheiminn: ættarsaga'' (2015) / ''About the Size of the Universe'' (MacLehose Press, 2019, translator Philip Roughton) * ''Saga Ástu: Hvert fer maður ef það er engin leið út úr heiminum?'' (2017, "Asta's story: Where do you go if there is no way out of the world?") * ''Fjarvera þin er myrkur'' (Bjartur, Reykjavík, 2020) / ''Your absence is darkness'' (MacLehose Press, 2024, translator Philip Roughton) * ''Guli kafbáturinn'' (Forlagið, Reykjavík, 2022)

Poetry

* ''Með byssuleyfi á eilífðina'' ("With a gun license for eternity", 1988) * ''Úr þotuhreyflum guða'' ("From the jet engines of the gods", 1989) * ''Hún spurði hvað ég tæki með mér á eyðieyju'' ("She asked what I would take with me to a desert island", 1993)

References

External links

Bókmenntavefur
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stefansson, Jon Kalman Jon Kalman Stefansson 1963 births Living people Jon Kalman Stefansson Jon Kalman Stefansson