Böðvar Guðmundsson

Böðvar Guðmundsson was born on the farm Kirkjuból in Hvítársíða, West Iceland on January 9, 1939. After finishing his secondary education in Reykjavík, he studied Icelandic at the University of Iceland and received a Cand. Mag. degree in 1969. He studied further in Germany from 1964 – 1965 and in France 1972 – 1973. Böðvar was a teacher at Réttarholtsskóli in Reykjavík 1962 – 1963, and later taught at Christians Albrechts Universität in Kiel, the secondary school Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð in Reykjavík 1969 - 1974, the University of Iceland 1970 – 1972 and the secondary school Menntaskólinn á Akureyri 1974 - 1980. He was a sessional teacher at the Drama Academy of Iceland 1981 – 1983 and held the post of Icelandic guest lecturer at the University of Bergen 1983 – 1987. Böðvar Guðmundsson has sent forward plays, poetry and novels. He has also translated numerous books for children and adults. Among his translations are books by Heinrich Böll, Roald Dahl, Michael Ende and Astrid Lindgren. His first published work, the poetry collection Austan Elivoga (East of Elivogar) appeared in 1964. His historical novels about Icelandic emigrants to America in the 19th century were published to acclaim and have been highly popular with readers. The latter, Lífsins tré (The Tree of Life), received the Icelandic Literature Prize in 1996. A play based on the books is being staged at the City Theatre in Reykjavík in 2004 - 2005. Böðvar has also written lyrics for Icelandic songs.