Auður Jónsdóttir is one of the most accomplished authors writing in Icelandic today. Her novels have aroused interest in Iceland as well as abroad for their rare blend of incisive candor and humor. She won the Icelandic Literary Prize for The People in the Basement and the Icelandic Women's Literature Prize for Secretaries to the Spirits. Both of these novels were nominated for the Nordic Council's Literature Prize. Auður's debut novel, Bliss, was nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize in 1998. Since then her output has included further novels, as well as books for children and teenagers, most notably Skrýtnastur er maður sjálfur, a portrait of her grandfather, the Nobel prize-winning author Halldor Laxness. The People in the Basement won the 2004 Icelandic Literary Prize followed by a nomination for Nordic Council's Literature Prize in 2006. It came out and was very well received in Denmark and Sweden in the same year. Deposit was published in Reykjavik in November 2006 and was nominated to the Icelandic Literary Prize. It came out in Denmark the year after. Wintersun, was published by btb Random House as "Jenseits des Meeres liegt die ganze Welt" in 2011. It harvested great reviews in Der Spiegel and Hamburger Abendblatt among others. It was subsequently published by Querido in 2012. In 2009 Auður worked at the Reykjavik City Theater as an in-house writer for one year resulting in a play being adapted from The People in the Basement in the following year. The show was a huge success with critics and audience alike and Auður won the Icelandic Theatre awards for the adaption from the book along with Olafur Egilsson. Secretaries to the Spirits published in 2012, was the best selling Icelandic fine literature fiction of the Christmas season. It won the Fjöruverðlaun and was nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize as well as the Nordic Council's Literature Prize. The publishing rights were sold to btb Random House, Tiderne Skifter and Presse de la Cité. Auður latest novel, Grand Mal, was published last autumn in Reykjavík. It became Auður's most successful novel to date and gathered a huge following among Icelandic readers of all ages, strengthening Auður's position as an important writers of her generation. The People In The Basement, Deposit and Grand Mal are now all being adapted for the silver screen. Other work by Auður includes international news articles, essays and two books for children with reading disabilities published by The National Centre for Educational Materials. Auður now divides her time between Berlin and Reykjavik with her family.
