Sjón

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SJÓN Photo:Hordur Sveinsson

Sjón is the pen name of Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson (born August 27, 1962). His pen name is formed from his given name (Sigurjón), and means 'Vision'.

Sjón is an Icelandic author and a poet. He was awarded the The Nordic Council's Literature Prize in 2005 for the novel Skugga-Baldur ('Shadow Fox'), but is perhaps best known in the English speaking world for writing some of Björk's lyrics. Lyrics Sjón has written for Björk are for the songs Isobel, its sequel Bachelorette, and Oceania, written especially for the 2004 Summer Olympics. In 2001 he was nominated for an Academy Award (Oscars), alongside his co-writers Lars von Trier and Björk, for the song I've Seen it All from the movie Dancer in the Dark.

Sjón published his first volume of poetry, Sýnir ('Visions') in 1978 and has since published numerous books of poetry, prose and even children's novels. His novels have been translated to Italian, Spanish, Dutch, German and French, among twelve other languages, with the English edition of Shadow Fox scheduled for publishing in early 2008 by Telegram Books.

Sjón is married and has two children. He currently resides in Reykjavík.

1 Bibliography
2 Works in translation
3 Prizes
4 External links

[edit] Bibliography

Visions ("Sýnir", Poems, 1978)
Madonna ("Madonna", Poems, 1979)
Birgitta ("Birgitta", Poems, 1979)
How Does One Make Love to Hands? ("Hvernig elskar maður hendur?", Poems, 1981)
The Blind Man's Bicycle ("Reiðhjól blinda mannsins", Poems, 1982)
The Book of Illusions ("Sjónhverfingabókin", Poems, 1983)
Oh, Isn't it Wild? ("Oh, Isn't it Wild?", Poems, 1985)
Toy Castles ... ("Leikfangakastalar", Poems, 1986)
The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes, poems from 1978-1986 ("Drengurinn með röntgenaugun", Poems, 1986)
Night of Steel ("Stálnótt", Novel, 1987)
Angel, Stovehat and Strawberries ("Engill, pípuhattur og jarðarber", Novel, 1989)
there is something I can't remember about the clouds ("Ég man ekki eitthvað um skýin", Poems, 1991)
Made in Secret (a.k.a. Your Eyes Saw Me) ("Augu þín sáu mig", Novel, 1994)
obscure figures ("myrkar fígúrur", Poems, 1998)
With a Quivering Tear ("Með titrandi tár", Novel, 2001)
Shadow Fox ("Skugga-Baldur", Novel, 2003)
The Whispering Muse (a.k.a. The Splinter from Argo) ("Argóarflísin", Novel, 2005)

[edit] Works in translation

NOVELS

Argóarflísin (The Whispering Muse)

Danish: Splinten fra Argo – Athene 2006
Swedish: Fisk och kultur - Alfabeta 2007

Skugga-Baldur (Shadow Fox)

Danish: Skygge-Baldur - Athene 2005
Finnish: Skugga-Baldur - Like 2005
Norwegian: Skugga-Baldur - Tiden 2005
Swedish: Skugga-Baldur - Alfabeta 2005
Faroese: Skugga-Baldur - Nýlendi 2006
Italian: La volpe azurra. Una leggenda islandese. - Mondadori 2006
Dutch: Blauwvos - Uitgeverij De Geus 2006
French: Le Moindre Des Mondes - Payot & Rivage 2007
German: Schattenfuchs - S. Fischer 2007
Serbian: Pticje mleko - Geopoetika 2005

Með titrandi tár (With A Quivering Tear)

Swedish: Med skälvande tårar - Alfabeta 2004

Augu þín sáu mig (Made in Secret)

Danish: Dine øjne så mig - Vindrose 2002
Finnish: Sinun silmäsi näkivät minut (rakkaustarina) - Like 2004
Lithuanian: Tavo akys mat mane - Apostrofa 2004
Norwegian: Dine öyne så mig: en kjærlighetshistorie – Tiden 2001
Spanish: Tus ojos me vieron: Historia de amor - Ediciones Siruela 2005
Swedish: Dina ögon såg mig: en kärlekssaga - Anamma 1997

POETRY

English: Night of the Lemon - Greyhound Press 1993
French: figures obscures - Cahiers de Nuit 2000
German: Gesang des Steinesammlers - Kleinheinrich 2007

[edit] Prizes

The Icelandic Bookseller's Prize for the Novel of the Year, 2005, for Argóarflísin.
The Nordic Council's Literature Prize, 2005, for Skugga-Baldur.
The DV Newspaper Culture Prize / Literature, 2002, for Með titrandi tár.
The Icelandic Broadcasting Service Writers Fund, 1998, for contribution to Icelandic literature.
The DV Newspaper Culture Prize / Literature, 1995, for Augu þín sáu mig.