Ísak Harðarson

Ísak Harðarson (11 August 1956 – 12 May 2023)[1] was a seminal 20th century Icelandic poet and translator. He had also written short stories, novels, and a memoir. He graduated from the University of Iceland in 1977.[2] His first book, a poetry collection called Þriggja orða nafn (Three-word name) was released in 1982. In the wake of its success, Ísak published a deluge of poetry, short story collections, novels, and a memoir. His poetry appeared in the anthology Ský fyrir ský (Cloud by Cloud) in 2000. Ísak has written lyrics, and his poetry has been performed to music,[3] and his work has been anthologised abroad in publications such as The Cafe Review (trans. Meg Matich).[4] His work, as both poet and proseist, is characterised by surreal and absurd descriptions of everyday life, as well as self-deprecating humour, as in his poem Skáld-Pabbi.[5] Likewise, his texts satirise political, social, and economic structures both within Iceland and abroad.

He had translated many works from English and Nordic languages into Icelandic over the past several decades.

He had received the Rithöfundasjóður Ríkisútvarpsins award for his poetry. In 2011, his tenth poetry book Rennur upp um nótt (It Comes Up at Night; 2009) was nominated to the Nordic Council Literature Prize.

After a 9-year poetry hiatus, Harðarson released a book of poems entitled Ellefti snertur af yfirsýn (2018),[6] followed by a collection of absurdist short stories Hitinn á vaxmyndasafninu (The heat in the wax museum) 2021.[7]