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Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir

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Auður at LiteratureXchange Festival in Aarhus (2019)
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir and Erik Fosnes Hansen (March 2011)

Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir (born 1958) is an Icelandic professor of art history, a novelist, playwright and poet.[1] She received the Nordic Council Literature Prize for Hotel Silence in 2018 and the Médicis Foreign Award for Miss Iceland in 2019.

Early life and education

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Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir was born in 1958, in Reykjavík. She studied history of art at the Sorbonne, Paris, France.[2]

Career

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Auður works as an assistant professor of art history at the University of Iceland.[3][4] For a time, she was the director of the university's Art Museum.[5]

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.[6]

Her book Rigning í nóvember (Butterflies in November) was lauded as a "moving, layered and optimistic piece of writing".[7] The book won the Tómas Guðmundsson Literary Award.[6]

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.[8] It was also described as a sweetly comic and wry observation of sex, manhood, death and parenthood.[9]

Personal life

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Auður has revealed that her temporary residence in Catholic countries and her deep interest in their art and music led her to convert to Roman Catholicism.[10]

Works

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Novels

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Poetry

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  • Sálmurinn um glimmer (The Psalm of Glimmer), 2010

Theatre

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  • Swans mate for life (National Theatre of Iceland, 2014)[14]

Awards

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  • 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

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir - Literature Web". City of literature UNESCO (in Icelandic). 15 April 2014. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  2. ^ Peras, Delphine (May 5, 2014). "Audur Ava Olafsdottir, Islandaise d'exception". L'Express. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  3. ^ "Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir". Pushkin Press. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  4. ^ Brandsma, Elliott. "Every Novel Has a Music of Its Own". Stúdentablaðið. University of Iceland. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  5. ^ Dagsdóttir, Úlfhildur (2011). "Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir". Literature.is. Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Interviews with Icelandic Authors: Auður A. Ólafsdóttir". Icelandic Literature Center. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  7. ^ Berwick, Isabel (December 27, 2013). "Butterflies in November, by Audur Ava Olafsdóttir". The Financial Times. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  8. ^ Schottenius, Maria (March 23, 2015). "Audur Ava Ólafsdóttir: "Rosa Candida"". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  9. ^ Kyzer, Larissa (December 5, 2011). "Three Percent Review: The Greenhouse". Three Percent. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  10. ^ Guerrera, Antonello (July 16, 2013). "Audur Ava Ólafsdóttir - "Il vero segreto? Sconfiggere la crisi con lo humour"". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  11. ^ DNB entry for Schmetterling in November
  12. ^ Worldcat entry for The Greenhouse
  13. ^ Worldcat entry for Rosa Candida
  14. ^ Walton-Lange, Lucy (November 7, 2013). "Exclusive interview with Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir". Female First. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
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