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íslenska

Guðbergur Bergsson

Bio

Guðbergur Bergsson was born on October 16th, 1932 in Grindavík, Iceland. He received a Teaching Diploma from the Iceland University of Education in 1955, went to Spain for further studies and graduated in Spanish, literature and art history from La Universidad de Barcelona in 1958. Following these years of study he spent much of his time in Spain.

His first books, the novel Músin sem læðist (The Prowling Mouse) and the poetry collection Endurtekin orð (Repeated Words), appeared in 1961. He published numerous books of various kinds, short stories, over 20 novels, children's books, autobiographical novels, and more. He also wrote articles about literature, art, and social issues for newspapers and magazines.

Guðbergur Bergsson was one of Iceland’s most prolific translators from Spanish and thus played an important part in introducing Spanish and Latin-American authors in Iceland. His own books were translated into several languages and the novel Svanurinn (The Swan) received strong acclaim in many countries. A movie by Ása Hjörleifsdóttir from 2017 with the same title is based on the book.

Guðbergur Bergsson received the Nordic Prize of the Swedish Academy in 2004. 

Guðbergur Bergsson died on September 4th 2023.

Author photo: Jóhann Páll Valdimarsson.