Pétur Gunnarsson (born 15 June 1947) 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 writer. __NOTOC__

Early life and education

Pétur 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 ...

. After graduating from

Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík (MR; official name in English: Reykjavik College) is collegein Iceland. It is located in Reykjavík. The school traces its origin to 1056, when a school was established in Skálholt, and it remains one of the oldest ...

, he earned a master's degree (maîtrise) in philosophy from

Aix-Marseille University Aix-Marseille University (AMU; ; formally incorporated as ) is a Public university, public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II of Anjou, List of rulers of Provence, Count of ...

in 1975."Pétur Gunnarsson"
''Bókmenntavefurinn''
archived
on 27 October 2010 .

Career

His first publications were poetry: individual poems in '' Tímarit Máls og menningar'' followed by the collection ''Splunkunýr dagur'' in 1973. In 1976 he published his first novel, ''Punktur, punktur, komma, strik'' (Dot Dot Comma Dash), the first volume in a

tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies ...

with a shared protagonist, the Reykjavík city kid Andri Haraldsson. After publication of the German translation, the novel was named book of the year by German radio network

WDR 2 WDR 2 is a radio station owned and operated by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) public broadcasting organization in Germany. It focuses on contemporary pop and rock music for an adult audience and on information. It is also WDR's broadcast sport e ...

in 2011. A 1980 film based on the novel was directed by Þorsteinn Jónsson; the last volume in the series, ''Sagan öll'', was nominated for 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 ...

in 1987. Three other novels have been nominated for 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 ...

: ''Hversdagshöllin'' (1990), ''Myndin af heiminum'' (2000) and ''Leiðin til Rómar'' (2002); the second and third of these are the first two volumes of his trilogy ''Skáldsaga Íslands'' (Novel of Iceland). Pétur is also the author of a number of plays, including ''Grænjaxlar'', a 1977 collaboration for the National Theatre, and ''Krókmakarabærinn'', also 1977, a children's play for the Icelandic Academy of Drama; radio and television scripts including a 1988 documentary on

Halldór Laxness Halldór Kiljan Laxness (; born Halldór Guðjónsson; 23 April 1902 – 8 February 1998) was an Icelandic writer and winner of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature. He wrote novels, poetry, newspaper articles, essays, plays, travelogues and sh ...

; and lyrics including for the CD ''Lög unga fólkins'', released in 1977. He has also written a two-volume non-fiction work about the writer

Þórbergur Þórðarson Þórbergur Þórðarson (''Thórbergur Thórdarson'') (Hali í Suðursveit, 12 March 1888/1889 – Reykjavík, 12 November 1974) was an Icelandic author and Esperantist. An ironist, satirist, volatile critic, and ground-breaking achiever in exp ...

, of which the first was nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize in the academic and general category in 2007 and both volumes won the 2009 Hagþenkir Award. In addition he has published translations into Icelandic of French works including

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , ; ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. He has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country and abroad. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flaubert, realis ...

's ''

Madame Bovary ''Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners'' (; ), commonly known as simply ''Madame Bovary'', is the début novel by France, French writer Gustave Flaubert, originally published in 1856 and 1857. The eponymous character, Emma Bovary, lives beyond he ...

'', which won the '' DV'' Culture Prize in 1996, and part of

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

's ''

Remembrance of Things Past ''In Search of Lost Time'' (), first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'', and sometimes referred to in French as ''La Recherche'' (''The Search''), is a novel in seven volumes by French author Marcel Proust. This early twen ...

'', and published both academic and newspaper articles on cultural issues. He served on the board of the

Alliance française (; "French Alliance", stylised as ''af'') is an international organization that aims to promote the French language and francophone culture around the world. Created in Paris on 21 July 1883 under the name ''Alliance française pour la propa ...

from 1977 to 1981, in 1980–81 as chair. He was also on the board of the Félag áhugamanna um bókmenntir from 1988 to 1990, was chair of the , the Icelandic Authors' Association, from 2006 to 2010, and was an editor of ''Tímarit Máls og menningar'' for many years.

Honours

He received the Knight's Cross of the

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. Nowaday ...

in January 2011."Tólf fengu fálkaorðuna í dag"
RÚV, 1 January 2011 .

Personal life

He is married to Hrafnhildur Ragnarsdóttir; they have two sons and live in Reykjavík.

Works

* 1973 ''Splunkunýr dagur'' (poetry) * Andri Haraldsson tetralogy: ** 1976 : ''Punktur, punktur, komma, strik'' ** 1978 : ''Ég um mig frá mér til mín'' ** 1982 : ''Persónur og leikendur'' ** 1985 : ''Sagan öll'' * 1977 : ''Grænjaxlar'' (play) * 1977 : ''Krókmakarabærinn'' (play) * 1987 : ''Sykri og brauði'' * 1989 : ''Vasabók'' * 1990 : ''Hversdagshöllinn'' * 1991 : ''Dýrðin á ásýnd hlutanna'' * 1994 : ''Efstu dagar'' * 1997 : ''Heimkoma'' * 1999 : ''Aldarför'' * Cycle ''Skáldsaga Íslands'': ** 2000 : ''Myndin af heiminum: Skáldsaga Íslands I'' ** 2002 : ''Leiðin til Rómar: Skáldsaga Íslands II'' ** 2004 : ''Vélar tímans: Skáldsaga Íslands III'' * 2003 : ''Að baki daganna'' (poetry) * 2007 : ''ÞÞ - í fátæktarlandi: Þroskasaga Þórbergs Þórðarsonar'' (on the author

) * 2009 : ''ÞÞ - í forheimskunarlandi'' * 2012 : ''Íslendingablokk: (tíðarandasaga)'' * 2013 : ''Veraldarsaga (mín): aldarfarsbók'' * 2014 : ''Veraldarsaga mín: ævisaga hugmynda''

References

External links

"Pétur Gunnarsson"
Interviews with Icelandic authors, Icelandic Literature Center Living people 1947 births Petur Gunnarsson Petur Gunnarsson Aix-Marseille University alumni {{Iceland-writer-stub