Born in Reykjavík, Steinunn Sigurðardóttir studied philosophy and psychology at University College Dublin. She made a name for herself at the age of nineteen with a volume of poetry entitled Continuances (Sifellur, 1969). Sigurðardóttir has since become one of Iceland’s most frequently translated writers, and one of the most lauded, having won the Icelandic Literature Prize (for Place of the Heart) and the national Bookseller’s Prize in 2011, among many other nominations. Steinunn Sigurðardóttir’s extensive body of work includes eleven novels, seven volumes of poetry, two volumes of short stories, radio plays, television plays, and a children’s book. Her novel The Thief of Time (Tímaþjófurinn, 1986) was adapted to film in France (Voleur de Vie, 1998), directed by Yves Angelo and starring Emmanuelle Béart and Sandrine Bonnaire. After an extensive and fruitful career abroad, most notably in Germany and France, Place of the Heart is Steinunn Sigurðardóttir’s English-language debut.
