Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir Explained

Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir (born 21 January 1949 in Hafnarfjörður), is an Icelandic writer.

Background

She received her degree in 1991 from the University of Iceland in the fields of German and Icelandic.

Writing

Her first novel Mávahlátur (Seagull's Laughter) became a play and film. Her work has been translated into German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. Within Iceland, her 'work has [...] been important in breaking down the borders between elite and popular culture', her novels tending to focus on 'women's issues in contemporary urban society'.^[1]

Honors

On 16 November 2011, Kristín Marja received the Jónas Hallgrímsson Award, given every year to an important Icelandic writer. According to the jury's verdict, "Kristín Marja's subject matter is the reality of Icelandic women. She illuminates the life and work, dreams and longings of women."

Novels

• Mávahlátur (The Seagull's Laughter) 1995
• Hús úr húsi (From House to House) 1997
• Kular af degi (As the Day gets colder) 1999
• Mynd af konu (Portrait of a woman) 2000
• Kvöldljósin eru kveikt (The Nightlights are on) 2001
• Karitas án titils (Karitas untitled) 2004
• Óreiða á striga (Chaos on Canvas) 2007
• Karlsvagninn (The Big Dipper) 2009
• Kantata (Cantata) 2012
• Svartalogn (Black Calm) 2016
• Gata mæðranna (Street of the Mothers) 2020

External links

• A page about Kristín Marja on the Icelandic website Bokmenntir.is
• Website about Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir, who played the character Freyja in the film version of "Mávahlátur"

Notes and References

1. Ástráður Eysteinsson and Úfhildur Dagsdóttir, 'Icelandic Prose Literature, 1940—2000', in A History of Icelandic Literature, ed. by Daisy Nejmann, History of Scandinavian literatures, 5 (University of Nebraska Press: 2007), pp. 404—70 (p. 457).