Auður Jónsdóttir is one of the most accomplished authors writing in Icelandic today. Her novels have aroused interest in Iceland, as well as abroad, for their rare blend of incisive candor and humor. She won the Icelandic Literary Prize for The People in the Basement and the Icelandic Women’s Literature Prize for Secretaries to the Spirits. Both of these novels were nominated for the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize. Auður’s latest novel, Quake, became Auður’s most successful novel to date and gathered a huge following among Icelandic readers of all ages, strengthening Auður’s position as an important writer of her generation.
Auður Jónsdóttir’s Festival participation is generously supported by Icelandic Literature Center, Iceland Air and Creative Iceland.
Auður Jónsdóttir appears as part of Nordic Bridges 2022.
Icelandic crime-writer Lilja Sigurðardóttir was born in the town of Akranes in 1972 and raised in Mexico, Sweden, Spain and Iceland. An award-winning playwright, Lilja has written four crime novels, with Snare, her English debut shortlisting for the CWA International Dagger and hitting bestseller lists worldwide. Trap soon followed suit, with the third in the trilogy Cage winning the Best Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year, and was a Guardian Book of the Year. Lilja’s standalone Betrayal, was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award for Best Nordic Crime Novel. The film rights have been bought by Palomar Pictures in California. Lilja is also an award-winning screenwriter in her native Iceland. She lives in Reykjavík with her partner.
Lilja Sigurðardóttir’s Festival appearance is generously supported by Icelandic Literature Centre.
Born in Akranes in 1988, Eva Björg Ægisdóttir studied in Norway before returning to Iceland and deciding to write a novel – something she had wanted to do since she won a short-story competition at the age of 15. After nine months combining her writing with work as a stewardess and caring for her children, Eva finished The Creak on the Stairs. It was published in 2018, and became a bestseller in Iceland. It was published in English by Orenda Books in 2020. Eva lives in Reykjavík with her husband and three children and is currently working on the third book in the Forbidden Iceland series. Follow her on @evaaegisdottir
Eva Björg Ægisdóttir’s Festival appearance is generously supported by Icelandic Literature Centre.
Eliza Reid is a journalist, editor, and cofounder of the annual Iceland Writers Retreat. Eliza grew up on a hobby farm near Ottawa, Canada, and moved to Iceland in 2003, five years after meeting the man who later became her husband, Gudni Th. Jóhannesson. When he took office as President of Iceland on August 1, 2016, Eliza became the country’s first lady. In that capacity, she has been active in promoting gender equality, entrepreneurship and innovation, tourism and sustainability, as well as the country’s writers and rich literary heritage.
Eliza Reid’s Festival appearance is generously supported by Icelandair.
Eliza Reid appears as part of Nordic Bridges 2022.