Halldor Laxness

(1902-1998) is the undisputed master of contemporary Icelandic fiction and considered one of the greatest European novelists of the twentieth century. Born near Reykjavik in Iceland on 23 April 1902, Halldór Laxness began writing at a young age: his first novel was published when he was just seventeen. A prolific author, he went on to write over 60 more books before his death in 1998. His body of work includes novels, essays, poems, plays, stories, and memoirs: more than sixty books in all. His works available in English include Independent People, The Fish Can Sing, Salka Valka, World Light, Under the Glacier, Iceland's Bell, Wayward Heroes, The Great Weaver From Kashmir, Atom Station and Paradise Reclaimed. Laxness was one of the outstanding novelists of the 20th Century, described as ‘a visionary’ by the Daily Telegraph and ‘a genius’ by the New York Review of Books. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955 ‘for his vivid epic power which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland’.

“Laxness is a beacon in twentieth-century literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling.”

ALICE MUNRO

“Laxness is a poet who writes at the edge of the pages, a visionary who allows us a plot: He takes a Tolstoyan overview, he weaves in a Waugh-like humor: it is not possible to be unimpressed.”

DAILY TELEGRAPH

“One quality that makes Laxness’s novels so morally uplifting is their air of tender but urgent gratitude. While his tone can vary widely from book to book…the reader consistently feels that the books are conceived in a spirit of homage; they are some of the world’s most substantial thank-you notes.”

BRAD LEITHAUSER, THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS

“One of the greatest novelists of the 20th century.”

DIE WELT

“Laxness is the patriarch of European literature.”

DIE WOCHENZEITUNG

“Laxness brought the Icelandic novel out from the sagas' shadow…to read Laxness is also to understand why he haunts Iceland—he writes the unearthly prose of a poet cased in the perfection of a shell of plot, wit, and clarity.”

THE GUARDIAN

“One of the world’s most unusual, skilled and visionary novelists.”

JANE SMILEY