The Nordic Council Literature Prize for the 2018 novel Hotel Silence brought international attention to the creative output of this Icelandic writer and art historian. Born in Reykjavík in 1958, she maintains a dual career that balances academic research at the University of Iceland with a prolific literary trajectory spanning novels, poetry, and dramatic stage works.
Academic Foundation and Background
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir pursued her higher education at the University of Iceland before moving to France to study art history at the Sorbonne in Paris. This academic background informs her professional life, where she has served as an assistant professor of art history at the University of Iceland and previously directed the university's Art Museum. Her intellectual interests extend to religion and cultural history, as evidenced by her conversion to Catholicism following a period of residence in Catholic countries.
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Her publishing career commenced in 1998 with the release of the novel Upphækkuð jörð, or Raised Earth. She followed this with Rigning í nóvember, published in 2004 and known in English as Butterflies in November, which earned the Tómas Guðmundsson Literary Award. Subsequent works include the 2007 novel Afleggjarinn, translated as The Greenhouse, and the 2012 title Undantekningin, or The Exception. In 2010, she expanded her creative scope to poetry with Sálmurinn um glimmer, translated as The Psalm of Glimmer, and in 2014, she wrote the play Swans mate for life, performed at the National Theatre of Iceland.
Recognition and Recent Works
The 2016 novel Ör, titled Hotel Silence in English, secured both the Icelandic Literary Prize and the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2018. Her later works include the 2018 novel Ungfrú Ísland, or Miss Iceland, which received the Médicis Foreign Award in 2019. Her continued output includes Dýralíf, published in 2020 as Animal Life, followed by Eden in 2022 and DJ Bambi in 2023. Her books have gained wide international distribution, appearing in French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, and Estonian translations.
Fast facts
- Born: 1958, Reykjavík, Iceland
- Education: University of Iceland and Sorbonne, Paris
- Primary Occupations: Writer and Art Historian
- Notable Award: Nordic Council Literature Prize (2018)
- Notable Award: Médicis Foreign Award (2019)
- Languages: Icelandic and French
- Current Affiliation: University of Iceland
Questions readers ask
What is the English title of her 2018 Nordic Council Literature Prize-winning book?
The book is titled Hotel Silence.
Did she write for the theatre?
Yes, she wrote the play Swans mate for life, which was performed at the National Theatre of Iceland in 2014.
Achievements
- Nordic Council Literature Prize — 2018
- Icelandic Literary Prize
