Hildur Knútsdóttir

Born in Reykjavík in 1984, Hildur Knútsdóttir has written plays, poems and novels for both children and adults. The settings of her novels are inspired both by everyday events and by things of an uncanny and unfamiliar nature – and sometimes she mixes these worlds together with an unexpected outcome.

Her first novel, Sláttur (Beat), was published in 2011. The fantasy Vetrarfrí (Winter Holiday), was awarded the Women’s Literature Prize (Fjöruverðlaunin) in 2015, and its sequel, Vetrarhörkur (Winter Rigours) received the Icelandic Literature Prize in 2016. Doddi: Bók sannleikans (Doddi: The Book of Truth), which she wrote in collaboration with fellow writer Þórdís Gísladóttir, was nominated for both the Women’s Literature Prize and the Reykjavik Children’s Book Award in 2017. 

Hildur received The Booksellers' Prize three years in a row from 2018 for the trilogy Ljónið (The Lion), Nornin (The Witch) and Skógurinn (The Forest) and was also nominated for the Icelandic Literature Prize for all three books. For Ljónið (The Lion), she also won the Reykjavík City Children's Book Award in 2019.

For the book Hrím (2023), she won the Reykjavík City Children's Book Award and the Booksellers' Prize, as well as being nominated for the Nordic Council Children and Young People‘s Literature Prize, the Women’s Literature Prize (Fjöruverðlaunin) and the Icelandic Literature Prize.

Hildur holds a B.A. degree in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Iceland. She lives in Reykjavik.