Auður Jónsdóttir

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is a matronymic, not a family name; this person is properly referred to by the given name Auður.
Auður Jónsdóttir

Audur Jonsdottir at the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2006

Audur Jonsdottir at the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2006
Born 1973 (age 42)
Reykjavík
Occupation Icelandic writer

Auður Jónsdóttir (born 1973 in Reykjavík) is an Icelandic author, playwright and freelance journalist.

Her debut novel, Stjórnlaus Lukka (Bliss), was nominated for the Icelandic literature Prize in 1998. Since then her output has included further novels, as well as books for children and teenagers, most notably Skrýtnastur er maður sjálfur (One self is the strangest of all, 2002), a biography of her grandfather, the Nobel prize-winning author Halldor Laxness.

The book received special recognition by the Icelandic library union as appropriate educational material for children. It was also nominated to the Icelandic book awards and won the Icelandic Book Sellers' special prize.

The novel Fólkið í kjallaranum (The People in the Basement) won the 2004 Icelandic Literature Prize followed by a nomination for The Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2006. It came out an was very well received in Denmark and Sweden in the same year.

Tryggðarpantur (Deposit) was published in Reykjavik in November 2006 and was nominated to the Icelandic literature Prize. It came out in Denmark the year after.

Auður Jónsdóttir's latest novel, Vetrarsól (Wintersun), was published by Random House (Germany) as Jenseits des Meeres liegt die ganze Welt. It garnered good reviews in Der Spiegel and Hamburger Abendblatt among others and will be published by Querido (Netherlands) in 2011. In 2009 Audur worked at the Reykjavik City Theater as an in-house writer for one year. In 2010 a play adapted from The People in the Basement was produced by Reykjavik City Theater. The show was a success with critics and audience alike. Audur and Olafur Egilsson won the Icelandic Theatre awards (Griman) for writing the adaptation from the book. The season ended with full houses every night and as a result it will be revived next year. Films scripts are currently being adapted from The people in the basement and "Wintersun.

Other work by Auður includes several international news articles, essays and two children books for children with reading disabilities, published by the National Centre for Educational Materials.

Audur now lives in Reykjavik with her husband Þórarinn Leifsson and young son.

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