Halldór Laxness, sometimes called Halldór Kiljan Laxness, was born Halldór Guðjónsson on 23 April 1902 in Reykjavík, Iceland. He died on 8 February 1998 in nearby Reykjalundur. He is Iceland’s most famous modern writer and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955. He published more than 60 books, including novels, plays, stories, essays and several volumes of memoirs. He usually wrote in Icelandic, though many of his novels are translated. The most famous of them is
Independent People(1934-35). Half a dozen of his best-known books remain in print in English. He was an ardent promoter of Icelandic culture, though this did not mean that he was opposed to an outward-looking modern perspective. He was often torn between his love of Iceland and his desire for a cosmopolitan life and…
4260 words
Citation: Fenwick, Gillian. "Halldór Laxness". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 April 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12029, accessed 25 November 2024.]
