–Iceland
Born 1981, poet, novelist, playwright, artist. Her first work, Kjötbærinn [Meat City], balances between poetry and prose. The first novel, Hvítfeld – fjölskyldusaga [2012, The Hvítfelds –family saga], deals with dysfunctional intergenerational relationships. For her seventh book, the prose Elín, ýmislegt [2017, Elín, various], she won the Icelandic Literary Prize and was nominated for the Nordic Council Prize for Literature.The author's style is characterized by strong imagery, the art of communicating the unsaid and the ability to model a dense, almost tangible atmosphere. "I don't know how I could be an artist and avoid brutality," she says. "Then where would I get inspiration?"