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Ása Sólveig

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Ása Sólveig Guðmundsdóttir (January 12, 1945 – December 10, 2015) was an Icelandic writer. Her debut novel, Einkamál Stefaníu (1978), was a nominee for the Nordic Council Literature Prize.

Sólveig's work centers on the issues faced by women and other marginalized people in Iceland, and "enact[s] a muted but painful confrontation with the myth of the strong, close-knit Icelandic family."[1]

Biography

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Sólveig was born in 1945 in Reykjavík, Iceland.[1][2][3] She was raised there by her mother, foster mother, and grandmother.[2]

She married her first husband, Jón Eldon, at age 17 and had three children over six years. The two divorced, and she later married Hörður Gunnarsson, a partnership that lasted until his death in 1999.[2][4][5]

Sólveig initially became known as a scriptwriter and writer of radio plays.[1][6] Her first notable work as a writer was the 1972 TV drama Svartur sólargeisli, which was about racism in Iceland.[2] This was followed by several radio plays and television scripts, including Elsa in 1974.[2][6]

Her debut novel Einkamál Stefaníu ("Stefania's Private Affairs"), a description of life as a suburban housewife, was a success upon its publication in 1978.[1][2][3] The novel dealt with such issues as pregnancy, sexuality, and marital abuse.[3] It was lauded by the newspaper Dagblaðið, which awarded it a cultural prize. Einkamál Stefaníu also garnered her a nomination for the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 1980.[1]

She followed it up with Treg í taumi, the story of a woman struggling with alcoholism, in 1979. In 1983, she published her last novel, Nauðug/viljug.[2]

Sólveig's work, written in a neorealist style, contributed to the national debate at the time about the status of women in Iceland.[1]

After her final novel in 1983, she published little, with the exception of the 1995 radio play Systir sæl og bless.[1][2] She primarily supported herself by working as a proofreader for the newspaper Morgunblaðið. Sólveig died in 2015, at age 70.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Kristjánsdóttir, Dagný (2011-11-17). "Strong Voices". Nordic Women's Literature. Archived from the original on 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Ása Sólveig". Nordic Women's Literature. 2011. Archived from the original on 2021-02-28. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  3. ^ a b c A history of Icelandic literature. Daisy L. Neijmann, American-Scandinavian Foundation. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2006. ISBN 978-0-8032-0543-7. OCLC 85827222.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ^ "Ragnheiður Ingvarsdóttir". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 2007-07-12. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  5. ^ "Hörður Sævar Gunnarsson". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 1999-05-23. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  6. ^ a b c "Ása Sólveig". Skáld (in Icelandic). Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2021-03-04.