Ragnar Jónasson

Ragnar Jónasson (* 1976 in Reykjavík ) is an Icelandic writer and lawyer .

life and work

Ragnar Jónasson was born and raised in Reykjavík and graduated from school with a law degree. Already in his youth she was fascinated by crime stories, especially the works of Agatha Christie , and began translating her novels into Icelandic at the age of 17. He has now translated fourteen novels by his literary role model into his mother tongue.

Even as a teenager, Jónasson wrote numerous award-winning short stories, but his writing breakthrough came with his debut novel Fölsk nóta , which appeared in 2009 but has not yet been translated into German. Fölsk nóta is the first novel about Ari Thór Arason, the investigator in the Dark Iceland series, before he switched to the police in Siglufjördur . With Snjóblinda , Jónasson then published the first volume in the Dark Iceland series in 2010, which was published by Fischer Verlag under the German title Schneebraut . A British film production company has already secured the film rights to the Dark Iceland series.

In 2015 the first volume of the Hulda trilogy was published with Dimma , a chronologically backwards-told series of novels about the investigator Hulda Hermannsdóttir from the Reykjavík criminal investigation department, who is supposed to investigate a cold case shortly before her early retirement . The first volume in this series, which was published by btb in 2020 under the German title Dunkel , was recognized by the Times as one of the best 100 crime novels and thrillers since 1945.

Jónasson's novels have now been published in more than 30 countries and translated into 21 languages.

The author is a member of the British Crime Writers' Association (CWA) and co-founder of Iceland Noir , the first Icelandic crime festival.

In addition to his writing, Ragnar Jónasson continues to work as a lawyer and investment banker and teaches copyright law at Reykjavík University .

He lives in Reykjavík with his wife and two daughters.

Works

Dark Iceland series

• 2010 Snjóblinda
  • Schneebraut (German translation by Ursula Giger), Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2017, ISBN 978-3-596-29913-3 .
• 2011 Myrknætti
  • Night of Death (German translation by Tina Flecken), Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2017, ISBN 978-3-596-29914-0 .
• 2012 Rof
  • Blindes Eis (German translation by Helga Augustin), Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2017, ISBN 978-3-596-29752-8 .
• 2013 Andköf
  • Totenklippe (German translation by Helga Augustin), Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2018, ISBN 978-3-596-70230-5 .
• 2014 Náttblinda
  • Schneetod (German translation by Helga Augustin), Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2019, ISBN 978-3-596-29753-5 .

Hulda trilogy

• 2015 Dimma
  • Dunkel (German translation by Kristian Lutze), btb Verlag, Munich 2020, ISBN 978-3-442-75860-9 .
• 2016 Drungi
  • Insel (German translation by Kristian Lutze), btb Verlag, Munich 2020, ISBN 978-3-442-75861-6 .
• 2017 Mistur

Other novels

• 2009 Fölsk nóta
• 2018 Þorpið
• 2019 Hvíti lasti

Web links

• Literature by and about Ragnar Jónasson in the catalog of the German National Library
• Ragnar Jónasson's official website
• Author portrait at Random House
• Author portrait at S. Fischer Verlage

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Author interview with Ragnar Jónasson - literary portal schwedenkrimi.de - Krimikultur Scandinavia. Retrieved August 12, 2020 . 
2. ↑ www.ragnarjonasson.com. Retrieved August 12, 2020 . 
3. ^ Ragnar Jónasson. Retrieved August 12, 2020 . 

Note: Icelanders are referred to by their first name or first and last name, but not just their surname. Further information can be found under Icelandic personal name .