Bjarni Bjarnason was born in 1965 in Reykjav\u00edk, Iceland, but grew up abroad. His poems were published in national magazines and newspapers while he was still in his teens. He wrote his first play by the time he was twenty, and shortly thereafter a first volume of poetry titled \u00bbUpphafi\u00f0\u00ab (tr. The beginning). To date Bjarnason has written a collection of short stories, a collection of one act play\u2019s, two books of poetry, ten novels, one collection of essays on literature and society, and a Dream-Journal.<\/p>\n
Nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize in 1996, Bjarnason\u2019s second novel \u00bbEndurkoma Mar\u00edu\u00ab (1996; Eng. \u00bbThe Return of the Divine Mary\u00ab, 2014) tells of the grandson of an esteemed theologian who meets a mysterious young woman afflicted by visions, and around whom strange things happen. Her striking resemblance to the Blessed Virgin prompts the professor to declare that the Virgin Mary has returned, for which he is subsequently expelled from the university. Bjarnason has said that he initially had no intention of writing about the Holy Mother, but once he became aware of the similarities, the story took on a biblical dimension. All in all, this impressive work is part romance, part thriller and part theological speculation. It follows the Icelandic narrative tradition, which, according to Bjarnason, only reveals itself if \u2013 unlike most literary works produced on the island \u2013 it refrains from referring to Iceland as this mystical and exotic place; which is a myth in itself. For his novel \u00bbBorgin bak vi\u00f0 or\u00f0in\u00ab (tr. The city behind the words) published in 1998, Bjarni Bjarnason received the T\u00f3mas Gu\u00f0mundsson Award. \u00bbMann\u00e6tukonan og ma\u00f0ur hennar\u00ab (tr. The cannibal and her husband) received the Halld\u00f3r Laxness Literature Award in 2001. \u00bbMannor\u00f0\u00ab (2011; Eng. \u00bbReputation\u00ab, 2017) examines the Icelandic financial crisis, in which the novel\u2019s hero, Starka\u00f0ur Lev\u00ed, plays a decisive role. Some years later, he attempts to restore his reputation \u2013 at any cost \u2013 in order to be accepted by society. Bjarnasons most recent novel \u00bbH\u00e1lfsnert st\u00falka\u00ab (2014; tr. Half-touched girl) uses psychoanalytic rhetoric to examine death and loss, and the eventualities of encountering specters of the conscious and unconscious mind. \u00bbTime is an important element in all his novels; their imagery is influenced by ancient myths and invested with a fairy tale atmosphere while simultaneously referring to modern phenomena,\u00ab according to the publication \u00bbA History of Icelandic Literature\u00ab.<\/p>\n
Bjarni Bjarnason\u2019 books have been translated to four languages; Faroese, Arabic, English and German. He co-founded the literary magazine \u00bbAndbl\u00e6r\u00ab in 1994, which primarily publishes works by young writers. The author lives with his wife, Katr\u00edn J\u00fal\u00edusd\u00f3ttir, Icelands former minister of finance, and their four boy\u00b4s, in Reykjav\u00edk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10446,"template":"","jct-role":[1080],"jct-origin":[908,395],"jct-ilb-years":[606,611],"class_list":["post-39206","authors","type-authors","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","jct-role-author","jct-origin-iceland","jct-origin-island","jct-ilb-years-2012-en","jct-ilb-years-2017-en"],"yoast_head":"\n