Brynja Hjálmsdóttir is a poet and author from Iceland. Her second book of poetry, A Woman Looks Over Her Shoulder, is out now with Circumference Books, translated to English by Rachel Britton.
Her work has appeared in English in Gulf Coast and a translation featured by Asymptote Journal can be read here.
Brynja is the 2022 recipient of the Ljóðstafur Jóns úr Vör poetry prize, and of the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Encouragement Award.
Brynja’s most recent book is the novel Friðsemd, a mysterious apocalypse comedy. The book came out in the fall of 2024 and was a critical success.
Okfruman (The Zygote), her first book of poetry, was published by Una útgáfuhús in 2019. The piece received excellent critical response and was described by one reviewer as: “One of the most interesting poety books of the year […] You rarely come across such a strong debut”.
Okfruman was nominated for The Icelandic Women’s Literary Award (Fjöruverðlaunin) and was awarded Poetry Book of the Year by The Icelandic Bookseller’s Choice Awards.
Brynja’s second book of poetry is Kona lítur við (A Woman Looks Over Her Shoulder) came out in 2021. A reviewer at Lestrarklefinn decribed the book as: “Absorbing, the imagery and the ambition placed into every detail is admirable.”
Literary televsion program Kiljan called Brynja “One of [Iceland’s] finest young writers.”
Her work has been translated into six languages and appeared in various literary journals and anthologies.
BRYNJA HJÁLMSDÓTTIR 