Bragi Olafsson
(b.1962) is an Icelandic writer of novels, short stories, plays and poetry. His novels are undoubtedly among the most original and remarkable Icelandic stories of recent years and he has also received critical acclaim for his plays, short stories and poetry. His subtle humor and ability to depict the extraordinary in ordinary life, often while painting a tragi-comic picture, make his work thrilling in a most unconventional way.
Olafsson’s novel, The Ambassador (published in the US by Open Letter), received the 2006 Icelandic Booksellers’ Prize as the Best Novel of the year. It was nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize, as well as the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2008. His novel Party Games received the DV Cultural Prize in 2004, and the Icelandic Booksellers’ Prize as the Best Novel of the year and his novel Time Off was nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize in 1999. Open Letter has also published Bragi’s novels, The Pets and Narrator.
Bragi wrote a radio play in 1995 which won a first prize in a competition held by the State Radio and the Writers Union of Iceland. His first stage play, Belgian Congo, was premiered at The Municipal Theatre in Reykjavik in 2004 and was shown 100 times. His second play, The Chickens, was premiered in 2010 to great critical acclaim. For both plays Bragi was nominated by the Icelandic Drama Prize, Griman (The Mask), as Playwright Of The Year.
His poetry and short stories have been translated into various languages. Bragi has translated poetry from Spanish, English and French (Vicente Huidobro, Jack Mapanje, Guillaume Apollinaire,Tristan Tzara, Blaise Cendrars, Max Jacob and Fernando Pessoa) and a novel, City of Glass, by Paul Auster which was published in Iceland in 1993.
Bragi is one of the founders of the publishing company Smekkleysa (Bad Taste), which publishes popular music, jazz, modern Icelandic music and historical recordings from Iceland.
