Pétur Gunnarsson

Pétur Gunnarsson ( born June 15, 1947 in Reykjavík ) is an Icelandic writer and translator.

Biography

After graduation in 1968 Pétur Gunnarsson took a philosophy degree at the University of Aix -Marseille in France, where he graduated in 1975. Between 1977 and 1981 he served on the board of the Icelandic Alliance française, which he chaired from 1980 to 1981. From 2006 to 2010 he was chairman of the Icelandic Writers Union ( Rithöfundasamband Íslands ). He lives in Reykjavík, is married to the educationalist Hrafnhildur Ragnarsdóttir and has two sons, one of them is the director Dagur Kári.

Works

Pétur Gunnarsson wrote in 1977 together with actors and the band Spilverk Þjóðanna the play Grænjaxlar for the Icelandic National Theatre, further texts for a plate of children's songs and a play for children. He also wrote numerous articles for radio and television, not least the script for a documentary about Halldór Laxness (1988 ), Iceland's only previous Nobel Prize winners.

His first book of poems Splunkunýr Dagur appeared in 1973. Known Pétur Gunnarsson is particularly noted for his novels, especially the tetralogy about Andri Haraldsson ( puncture acupuncture comma strict, Ég to mig frá mér til mín, Persónur above leikendur and Sagan OIL ). Their last part was nominated for the 1987 Literature Prize of the Nordic Council. The first part of this cycle was published in 1976, quickly became a great success among critics and readers, and has become a classic of Icelandic literature. The novel describes in witty and ironic, word play -rich, elliptical and suggestive presented, often short episodes of childhood Andri Haraldsson in Reykjavík in the context of the social events of the postwar period. In 1980 he was filmed by Þorsteinn Jónsson, 2011 appeared the German translation dot, dot dot comma.

His last three novels Myndin af heiminum: Skáldsaga Íslands (2000), Leiðin til Romar: Skáldsaga Íslands II (2002) and velar TIMANS: Skáldsaga Íslands III (2004) process the Islands history in novelistic form.

Furthermore Pétur Gunnarsson came as a translator of French literature in appearance. Among other things, he translated Gustave Flaubert and Marcel Proust into Icelandic.

Novels

• Puncture acupuncture comma strict, 1976 ( in German: dot, dot comma stressed from the Icelandic by Benedict Grabinski, Weidle, Bonn 2011, ISBN 978-3-938803-34-9. )
• Ég to mig frá mér til mín, 1978 ( in German: I my me me from the Icelandic by Benedict Grabinski, Weidle, Bonn 2012, ISBN 978-3-938803-44-8. )
• Persónur above leikendur, 1982 ( in German: The roles and their performers, Bonn 2013, ISBN 978-3-938803-56-1 )
• Sagan OIL, 1985
• Hversdagshöllin, 1990
• Efstu dagar, 1994
• Home coma, 1997
• Myndin af heiminum, 2000
• Leiðin til Romar, 2002
• Velar TIMANS, 2004
• Íslendingablokk, 2012

Importance and appreciations

For his translation of Flaubert's Madame Bovary Pétur Gunnarsson was honored in 1996 with the Cultural Award of the newspaper DV. In January 2011, he was honored for his work and his contribution to Icelandic literature with the Knight's Cross of the Icelandic Falcon North.