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Thorarinn Leifsson

Author

Translator

Thorarinn Leifsson
© Leifsson

Profile

Born: 29.7.1966
Birthplace: Reykjavik
Country of birth: Iceland
Lives in: Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg


Source language: German
Target language: Icelandic
Working language: Icelandic

Vita

Thórarinn Leifsson, born in Reykjavik in 1966, is an Icelandic author and illustrator. He studied at the Academy of Arts in Reykjavik and had been working as an illustrator and web designer for nearly twenty years, before making his literary debut with Leyndarmalid hans pabba (Father’s Big Secret). His book Bókasafn ömmu Huldar (Grandma Hulda’s Library) was awarded the Reykjavik Children's Book Prize. He has been nominated twice for the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize. When he started work on his book Maðurinn sem hataði börn (The Man Who Hated Children), he had already been living in Berlin with his family. In addition to his children's books, Thórarinn Leifsson is also the author of a theatre play and an autobiographical novel about his experience living as a street artist in Spain and Morocco in the eighties. Leifsson is currently working on his novel Kaldakol about Icelandic people in Berlin.

6 Questions

What do you love about Berlin?

The anonymity of a big city.


What do you miss in Berlin?

The sea.


What is your favorite spot in Berlin?

Hasenheide


Would you say you are a different person in Berlin? A different translator? And if yes, in what way?

I can look at my own country from the outside.


Which existing literary work do you wish you had written?

The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov

Awards

2015  Maðurinn sem hataði börn  (The Man Who Hated Children) was nominated for the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize. 
2009  Bókasafn ömmu Huldar (Grandma Hulda’s Library) won the Reykjavik Children's Book Prize. 

Work

Publications in german

Publications in original language

Maðurinn sem hataði börn - Der Mann, der Kinder hasste

Forlagið Ísland, 2015 Children's book

Bókasafn Ömmu Huldar - Großmutter Huldas Bücherei

Forlagið Ísland, 2009 Children's Book

Götumálarinn - Der Straßenmaler

Forlagið Ísland, 2011 Biography

Leyndarmálið hans pabba - Papas Geheimnis

Forlagið Ísland, 2007 Children's Book