Ófeigur Sigurðsson
Ófeigur Sigurðsson was born in Reykjavík on November 2, 1975. He has published six books of poetry and two novels. Ófeigur has tried his hand at a number of things: working as a uniformed night-watchman at a hotel, pre-packing ham and bacon at a factory farm, exercising his brawn as a dock worker, and exercising his brains as a student at the Philosophy Department of the University of Iceland, from where he received his BA degree in 2007 with a thesis on the taboo and transgression in the works of Georges Bataille. Ófeigur is at the forefront of a poetic movement of dynamic young creative people, who have recently had a hand in reshaping the form of Icelandic poetry. He has translated literature and written for radio on writers including Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Michel Houellebecq. A prolific poet, Ófeigur has published several collections including Toast to the Midwinter (2001) and Redness (2006). In 2005 his first novel, Áferð, was published and received very positive reviews. His second novel, Jón (2010), the story of a man writing letters to his pregnant wife from a cave, became the first Icelandic novel to receive the European Union Prize for Literature. Ófeigur’s latest book, Öræfi: The Wasteland, came out in 2014 and was the runaway literary sensation of the year, becoming a massive bestseller and receiving the Icelandic Literary Prize, and it was also chosen as the year's best book among the country's booksellers.
