Guðrið Helmsdal Nielsen (born 26 February 1941 in

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. " Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

) is a Faroese poet. Born as Guðrið Helmsdal Poulsen, she added her husband's surname when she married. She writes as Guðrið Helmsdal.

Biography

Born on 26 February 1941 in

, Guðrið Helmsdal Nielsen spent the first 12 years of her life in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic archipelago, island group and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotlan ...

, her parents being Annie Helmsdal and Hans Poulsen. When she was 12, the family moved to Denmark, where her father worked as a captain. She, her two sisters and her parents lived first in

Tårnby Tårnby () is a town in Denmark, the seat of Tårnby Municipality in the Capital Region of Denmark. It is located approximately south of central Copenhagen on the island of Amager. Neighbouring settlements include the Copenhagen suburb of Sun ...

, then in

Amager Amager ( or, especially among older speakers, ) in the Øresund is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 212,000 inhabitants (January 2021) a small appendage to Zealand. The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (includi ...

, and later in Copenhagen. Guðrið returned to the Faroe Islands when she was 26 years old.MS.fo
Guðrið Helmsdal. She began to write poems at the age of 13, and in 1958 she published her first poems in a Faroese paper for Faroese students in Denmark, called Oyggjaskeggi. In 1961, she published some poems in the Faroese literary magazine ''Varðin''. Her first collection of poetry, ''Lýtt lot'', which was published in 1963, was the first modern collection of poems in the

Faroese language Faroese ( ; ''føroyskt mál'' ) is a North Germanic language spoken as a first language by about 72,000 Faroe Islanders, around 53,000 of whom reside on the Faroe Islands and 23,000 in other areas, mainly Denmark. It is one of five languages d ...

. The collection was also the first in Faroese written by a woman. Her second collection of poems, ''Morgun í mars'', was published in 1971 and is written in two languages: Faroese and

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

. In 1965, she married the Danish teacher and sculptor Ole Jakob Nielsen. They have one daughter,

Rakel Helmsdal Rakel Helmsdal (born 25 September 1966) is a Faroese writer. Her mother is the Faroese poet Guðrið Helmsdal and her father the wood artist Ole Jakob Nielsen. Rakel was born in Tårnby, Amager, Denmark, but has lived in Tórshavn in the Faroe I ...

, who is also a writer, and one son who is a movie director and camera man.

Bibliography

Poems

*1963 - ''Lýtt lot'', illustrated by Zacharias Heinesen *1971 - ''Morgun í mars'' ("Morning in March")

Non-fiction

*1979 - ''Føroyskur dansur og vertskapur í Leynum'' (About the Faroese chaindance in the village Leynar)

Published in other languages than Faroese

*''Færøske digte 1900–1971.'' 1971. (Danish) *''Færøysk lyrikk.'' 1974. (Norwegian Nynorsk) *''Bränning och bleke.'' 1976. (Swedish) *''Regnbogastígur.'' 1981. (Icelandic) *''Rocky Shores. An Anthology of Faroese Poetry.'' Edited and translated by George Johnston. Wilfion Books, Paisley 1981. (English) *''Modern Scandinavian Poetry - The Panorama of Poetry 1900–1975 in Eight Northern Countries.'' 1982. (English) *''Stjørnuakrar – Sternenfelder.'' Edited by Paul Alfred Kleinert. Translated by Anette Nielsen, the frontpage is illustrated by Zacharias Heinesen. Halle/Saale (Projekte Verlag) 2006, (German). * ''Frá Áarstovubrøðrunum til Tórodd - føroysk yrking í hundrað ár / Von Djurhuus bis Poulsen – färöische Dichtung aus 100 Jahren.'' Trilingual edition, edited by Paul Alfred Kleinert. Academic advice:

Turið Sigurðardóttir Turið Sigurðardóttir (born 12 August 1946) is a Faroese educator, writer and translator, specializing in the history of Faroese literature. She lives in Tórshavn and teaches at the University of the Faroe Islands. Biography Born in Copenhagen, ...

, rough translations: Inga Meincke. In adaptations by Annemarie Bostroem, Günther Deicke and Paul Alfred Kleinert. Leipzig (pernobilis edition im Engelsdorfer Verlag), 2007, *Four poems in '' Structo'', a literary magazine from the UK. Randi Ward has translated the poems from Faroese to Danish and English. The poem in the magazine are these: "Fjarðakvirra", “Morgunfjøll", "Heystfjøll" and "Solnedgang". (English)Vencil.wordpress.com
Guðrið Helmsdal á enskum (''in Faroese'').

Prizes

*1974 - Received the Faroese Literature Prize for the poetry collections ''Morgun í mars'' and ''Lýtt lot''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helmsdal, Gudrid 1941 births 20th-century Danish women writers 20th-century Faroese poets Faroese women poets Faroese women writers Faroese-language poets Living people