Helgi Ingólfsson

Helgi Ingólfsson was born on July 18, 1957 in Reykjavík. He studied education at the University of Iceland, graduating in 1988. In 1994 he received his B.A. degree in history and literature from the same school. He has been a teacher of history, mainly ancient history and art history, at Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík since 1984. He gave specialized assistance in history in the writing of the Icelandic Encyclopedia 1988 – 1990.

Helgi Ingólfsson's first published book, Letrað í vindinn: samsærið (Written in the Wind: the Conspiracy) appeared in 1994. The story takes place in ancient Rome at the time of the emperors. Helgi received the Tómas Guðmundsson Literary Award for the novel in the same year. A year later, the second, but independent volume, Letrað í vindinn: þúsund kossar (Written in the Wind: A Thousand Kisses) was published. Helgi thus left ancient Rome and moved on to farsical and comic stories in contemporary Iceland. Helgi has also written crime novels and short stories, and his historical crime novel Þegar kóngur kom won the Icelandic Crime Writers Award, Blóðdropinn (The Drop of Blood) in 2010. Helgi has also published short stories, poetry and articles in magazines. He has furthermore written educational material.