(b.1973) is one of Iceland’s most celebrated writers. He has won the Icelandic Literary Prize for fiction, children’s fiction and non-fiction. In addition, Magnason has written poetry, plays, short stories and essays. His work has been published or performed in over thirty countries and has received numerous international awards, amongst them the Janusz Korczak Honorary Award, the French Grand Prix de l’Imaginire and the Kairos prize awarded by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation to outstanding individuals. In 2009 Magnason co-directed the documentary Dreamland, which was based on his book Dreamland: A Self-Help Manual for a Frightened Nation. Magnason ran for president of Iceland in 2016 and came third out of nine candidates. Magnason lives in Reykjavik with his wife and four children.

“Orwell, Vonnegut, and Douglas Adams are felt on every page, though Magnason is never derivative. His satire and insightful social commentary sweeten the pot and the sheer wackiness of Magnason’s oversized imagination is invigorating.”
PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY (STARRED REVIEW)

AWARDS

2014 – The Reykjavík Scholastic Children’s Literature Award: Tímakistan (The Time Box)
2013 – The Booksellers´ Award, for best young adult fiction: Tímakistan (The Time Box)
2013 – The Icelandic Literature Prize: Tímakistan (The Time Vault). In the category of children´s and young adult fiction.
2006 – The Icelandic Literature Prize (for non fiction works): Draumalandið: sjálfshjálparbók handa hræddri þjóð (Dreamland: A Self-Help Guide for a Frightended Nation)
2006 – The Icelandic Bookseller Awards: Draumalandið (Dreamland). As the best non-fiction book of the year
2003 – DV Cultural Prize for literature: Lovestar
2002 – The Bookseller Award: Lovestar. As the best novel of the year
2002 – The West-Nordic Children´s Book Prize: Sagan af bláa hnettinum (The Story of the Blue Planet)
2000 – Janusz Korczak Award: Sagan af bláa hnettinum (The Story of the Blue Planet)
1999 – The Icelandic Literature Prize (for fiction): Sagan af bláa hnettinum (The Story of the Blue Planet)

NOMINATIONS

2016 – Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, best fiction in translation: LoveStar
2014 – The West-Nordic Children´s Literature Prize: Tímakistan (The Time Vault)
2013 – The Philip K. Dick Award: LoveStar
2003 – The Icelandic Literature Prize: Lovestar