Gerður Kristný is one of Iceland’s leading contemporary authors, mainly working in poetry, journalism, and literature for children and young people. For the past two decades, she has produced a vast oeuvre, ranging from journalistic works on various subjects to nine volumes of poetry, for which she is best known internationally. For her modern poetical rewriting of Norse myths, the poetic cycle Bloodhoof, she received the Icelandic Literature Awards and was nominated for the prestigious Nordic Council Awards. Bloodhoof has been translated into various languages and published in English by Arc Publications in 2013 in the translation of Rory McTurk. Together with Drapa – A Reykjavík Murder Mystery and Reykjavík Requiem, published in 2014 and 2018, respectively, Bloodhoof constitutes the first part of a trilogy of poems concerning gender-based violence. In 2022 Gerður Kristný was awarded the Order of the Falcon for her services to Icelandic literature and culture.
Gerður Kristný was a resident of the Epic Residencies programme in February 2023. During her residency in Košice, Gerður Kristný was working on a novel about friendship and loss.
Her mystery book for young people, „Shadows in the Chair“, translated to Slovak by Jan Zaťko, was published in 2022 the BRAK publishing house.
Gerður Kristný’s public reading took place in Artforum Bookshop in Košice (23.2.2023) and Rómer’s house in Bratislava’s Old Town (24.3.2023).
After the readings, Gerður discussed Icelandic literature and culture with the audience and signed copies of her book „Shadows in the Chair“ in Slovak translation.
