Einar Már Guðmundsson

Einar Már Guðmundsson ( born September 18, 1954 in Reykjavík ) is an Icelandic writer. His books have been translated into several languages.

Life

Einar Már Guðmundsson grew up in Reykjavík. In 1979, he received a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Iceland in comparative literature and history. He then continued to work at the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Copenhagen. Today The author lives in Reykjavík, is married and has five children.

Works

His first book was published in 1980. It is an anthology of poetry.

Next, he published the novel " The Knights of the Round Stairs" (1982). It's about Jóhann Pétursson. The hero of the story is 10 years old and just about to discover life as such, with all its ups and downs. The author tells insightful from the perspective of the child - the irony though sometimes not quite equal to his age. Jóhann reported amusing and profound numerous experiences of his friends in a suburb of Reykjavík. In the end, however, breaks the tragedy in this suburban idyll one: One of the boys died in an accident. The novel won the 1985 Literature Prize of the Almenna Bókfélagið.

A large, even international success was his novel "Angels of the Universe" (1993). In this text it comes to Páll, a mentally ill and whose destiny. Einar Már leans in to his own brother's story, whose inner world it reflects convincing. The Nordic Council gave the author for this work in 1995 with the prestigious literary prize. In 2000, the film version was made by Fridrik Þór Friðriksson, see: Angels of the Universe.

Political commitment

As a result of the 2008 financial crisis and the threat of state bankruptcy of Iceland, the writer attacked the responsible politicians with hardness. In an environment of growing protest of up to 6,000 citizens, held every Saturday in front of the Parliament, Einar Már compared the situation with that of the GDR before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The crisis began with the liberalization of the banks, as the politicians " the wealth of the people gave their friends ." The banks have grown unchecked, the country over the head. The writer demanded the resignation of the government, a transitional regime of experts and new elections. The protests led in January 2009 to the resignation of the government.

Publications in German translation

• The Knights of the Round stairs. ( Riddarar hringstigans, 1982) Goldmann btb, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-442-72495-3
• Angels of the Universe. ( Englar alheimsins, 1993) Goldmann, vol btb 72514, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-442-72514-3
• Footprints in the sky. ( Fótspor á himnum, 1997), Carl Hanser, Munich / Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-446-20051-7
• How to run a country into the abyss. The history of Iceland's ruin. ( Hvitá Bokin, 2009), Carl Hanser, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-446-23510-6
• Temporarily unavailable. A love story. ( Rimlar Hugan, 2007), Carl Hanser, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-446-23059-0