Ragnheiður Gestsdóttir (born 1 May 1953) is an Icelandic author, noted for her children's books.

Biography

Ragnheiður Gestsdóttir was born on 1 May 1953 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 ...

. Ragnheiður was born in a family of painters and writers. She graduated as a teacher from the Kennaraskóli Íslands in 1973, and took a degree in art history at

Aarhus University Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Ut ...

in 1979. She also 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 ...

. Ragnheiður worked as a teacher in Reykjavík for several years, and was editor of Iceland's

National Centre for Educational Materials Directorate of Education () is an Icelandic governmental institution that provides educational material to students of primary and upper secondary schools in Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Oc ...

1990–96. She has both illustrated and written books for children and teens. Her first book, ''Ljósin lifna'', was published in 1985. Ragnheiður has retold and illustrated various Icelandic folktales, pre-eminently in her book ''Sagan af Hlina konungssyni''. Amongst other prizes, Ragnheiður won the

Icelandic Children's Book Prize The Icelandic Children's Book Prize (Íslensku barnabókaverðlaunin) is a literary prize which is awarded annually (when sufficiently good entries present themselves) by the Verðlaunasjóði íslenskra barnabóka, established by the author Árman ...

for her 2000 book ''Leikur á borði''; and the

Nordic Children's Book Prize The Nordic Children's Book Prize (Danish: Nordisk Skolebibliotekarforenings Børnebogspris also called Nordisk Børnebogspris) is a children's literary prize which was established in 1985 by the Nordic Association of School Librarians (Nordisk Skole ...

in 2005 for her novel ''Sverðberinn''. Her most recent novels include the 2009 ''

Hjartsláttur ''Hjartsláttur'' ('heart-beat') is the fourth novel for young people by Ragnheiður Gestsdóttir. It was published in 2009 in Reykjavík by Mál og menning. Form The novel is a third-person narrative. Each chapter is from the perspective of a p ...

'' and the 2012 ''Myndin í speglinum''. Ragnheiður lives in

Hafnarfjörður Hafnarfjörður, officially Hafnarfjarðarkaupstaður, is a port town and municipality in Iceland, located about south of Reykjavík. The municipality consists of two non-contiguous areas in the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital Region, on the s ...

. She is married and has four children.

Prizes

* 2000 - Íslensku barnabókaverðlaunin: ''Leikur á borði'' * 2001 - Barnabókaverðlaun Fræðsluráðs Reykjavíkur: ''40 vikur'' * 2004 - Barnabókaverðlaun Fræðsluráðs Reykjavíkur: ''Sverðberinn'' * 2005 - Vorvindar IBBY * 2005 -

: ''Sverðberinn''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gestsdottir, Ragnheidur 1953 births Living people Ragnheidur Gestsdottir Ragnheidur Gestsdottir Ragnheidur Ragnheidur Gestsdottir Ragnheidur Gestsdottir Ragnheidur Gestsdottir Ragnheidur Gestsdottir