Faroese Literature
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Faroese Literature
Faroese literature, in the traditional sense of the word, has only really developed in the past two hundred years. This is mainly because of the islands' isolation, and also because the Faroese language was not written down in a standardised format until 1890. Until then the Danish language was encouraged at the expense of Faroese. Nevertheless, the Faroese language soon became a vehicle for literature in its own right and has produced writers in several genres. No sagas were created in the Faroe Islands, but in the 13th century the '' Færeyinga saga'' (''Saga of the Faroe Islanders'') was written in Iceland. It tells the story of the settlement and early history of the Faroe Islands, though it is doubtful if it is entirely historically accurate. Faroese letters survive from the 13th and 14th centuries, and Faroese ballads were collected in the 17th century. In the Middle Ages many poems and stories were handed down orally. These works were split into the following divisions: ...
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The Nordic Council's Literature Prize
The Nordic Council Literature Prize is awarded for a work of literature written in one of the languages of the Nordic countries, that meets "high literary and artistic standards". Established in 1962, the prize is awarded every year, and is worth 350,000 Danish kroner (2008). Eligible works are typically novels, plays, collections of poetry, short stories or essays, or other works that were published for the first time during the last four years, or in the case of works written in Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish, within the last two years. The prize is one of the most prestigious awards that Nordic authors can win. The winner is chosen by an adjudication committee appointed by the Nordic Council. The committee consists of ten members, two each from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The committee members are generally experts in their own country's literature, as well as their neighbouring countries. In addition to the regular members, additional members may be added to ...
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Jóanes Nielsen
Jóanes Nielsen (born 5 April 1953 in Tórshavn) is a Faroese author and poet of the 1980s generation. Nielsen has written short stories, plays and novels. He has published seven collections of poetry, and was nominated for the Nordic Council's Literature Prize for the fourth time with his latest collection of poems, entitled ''Brúgvar av svongum orðum'' (Bridges of Hungry Words). One of his main influences is the writer William Heinesen, who features in some of his poems. As a writer Nielsen is mainly associated with a political and often existential message. He has been nominated for the Nordic Council's Literature Prize five times: 1988, 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2012. In December 2012 the international publication house Random House made a contract with Nielsen to publish his novel ''Brahmadellarnir'', which was first to be published in German. The Random House contract was regarded as an historic event for Faroese literature, because no other Faroese author's work had until the ...
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Joen Danielsen
Joen Danielsen Known as ''Kvívíks-Jógvan (Jógvan of Kvívík)'', (11 June 1843, Kvívík, Faroe Islands – 2 May 1926). He married and settled in the town of Gjógv. Kvívíks-Jógvan was one of the earliest traditional Faroese poets to write poems in the Faroese language. Growing up together with J. P. Gregoriussen in the town of Kvívík when V. U. Hammershaimb was parish priest there, he taught himself to read Faroese by borrowing books from Mr. Hammershaimb. Among the many poems he wrote, Jógvan also wrote traditional Faroese ballads, the most famous being "Kópakvæðið" (the ballad of the Selkie or seal woman) which consists of 68 verses. This ballad is based on a Faroese legend about seals coming ashore to dance in human appearance on 7 January, which locally is known as "old christmas" which was celebrated in accordance with the Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in Octobe ...
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Jens Pauli Heinesen
Jens Pauli Heinesen (2 November 1932 in Sandavágur − 19 July 2011 in Tórshavn) was a Faroese writer. He received the Faroese Literature Prize four times and the Faroese Cultural Prize once. From 1968 to 1975, Heinesen was president of the Association of Writers of the Faroe Islands (Rithøvundafelag Føroya). He wrote novels, short stories, poems, plays, a children's book, and translated books from foreign languages into Faroese. Biography Jens Pauli Heinesen's parents were Petur Heinesen á Lofti, a farmer from Sandavágur, and Anna Maria Malena Heinesen (born Johannesen) from the small island of Hestur. He grew up in the village of Sandavágur. At 14 years old, he moved to Tórshavn, where he worked briefly at an office and published his first book, ''Degningsælið'', before finishing high school in 1954. After graduating, he moved to Denmark, where he studied at Emdrupborg Statsseminarium and became a school teacher in 1956. In August 1956, he married Maud Brimheim ...
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Høgni Mohr
Høgni Mohr (born in Tórshavn 8 October 1968) is a Faroese author and journalist. His book ''Fractura Nasi'' was the best selling book in 2017 throughout the Faroe Islands. ''Fractura Nasi'' was translated into Danish 2019 by Kirsten Brix and published bAmanda Books. Danish titleRejse for livet The novel was sold to movie production in 2018. Career Mohr has worked for newspapers in the Faroes and has been published in Danish and Icelandic national newspapers. He spent several years working as a radio and TV reporter with Faroese national broadcaster Kringvarp Føroya. He has also worked for the BBC and Al Jazeera and has hosted nature programmes for Vice Media, as well as being a correspondent to the Huffington Post. His literary works are published in Faroese and Danish. Mohr’s signature work, ''Saga JAM'', 2022 ''Saga JAM'', a novelised biography about Mohr’s old friend Jan-Allan Müller, sparked a heated debate in the Faroes after its publication in September ...
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Hans Andrias Djurhuus
Hans Andrias Djurhuus (20 October 1883 – 6 May 1951) was a Faroese poet and teacher. Hans Andrias Djurhuus was one of the most productive Faroese poets. He is well known for his national poems and for his children's songs, but he also wrote psalms, short stories, plays, fairytales and one novel. Biography Djurhuus was born and died in Tórshavn. His brother Janus Djurhuus, who was two years older, is also one of the well-known poets of the Faroe Islands. He also had an older sister called Armgarð Maria Djurhuus, which was born in 1880. She died at a young age of 39 years old. They were born and raised in a house in the old part of Tórshavn, which is called Áarstova, down in the eastern harbour; only the brothers are often referred to as the Áarstovu Brothers (''Áarstovubrøðurnir'') and not their sister. The brother's great grandfather was Jens Christian Djurhuus (1773–1853), who was the first to write poems in the Faroese language. After finishing school Hans And ...
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Hanus Kamban
Hanus Kamban (born 25 June 1942 in Saltangará, Faroe Islands) is a Faroese short story writer, essayist, biographer and poet. He was born Hanus Andreassen, but changed his last name to Kamban in 2000. Kamban grew up on the small island of Skúvoy and moved to Tórshavn in 1956. He writes about the quite sudden modernisation of the Faroese society post World War II. He published his first short story anthology in 1980, and has translated William Shakespeare, Kafka, Graham Greene and other great writers and poets from other countries to Faroese. From 1994 to 1997 he published a three-volume biography of one of the most important Faroese poets, Janus Djurhuus. It was translated into Danish and published in two volumes in 2001. He was nominated to the Nordic Council's Literature Prize for the first time in 2003 for his short story anthology ''Pílagrímar'' (Pilgrims). In 2012 he was nominated for the second time to the Nordic Council's Literature Prize, this time for his s ...
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Gunnar Hoydal
Gunnar is a male first name of Nordic origin (''Gunnarr'' in Old Norse). The name Gunnar means fighter, soldier, and attacker, but mostly is referred to by the Viking saying which means Brave and Bold warrior (''gunnr'' "war" and ''arr'' "warrior"). King Gunnar was a prominent king of medieval literature such as the Middle High German epic poem, the Nibelungenlied, where King Gunnar and Queen Brynhildr hold their court at Worms. Gunder is a nordic variant, Günther is the modern German variant, and Gonario is the Italian version. Some people with the name Gunnar include: Gunnar Andersen *Gunnar Andersen (1890–1968), Norwegian football player and ski jumper *Gunnar Andersen (1909–1988), Norwegian ski jumper *Gunnar Aagaard Andersen (1919–1982), Danish sculptor, painter and designer **Gunnar Reiss-Andersen (1896–1964), Norwegian poet Gunnar Andersson *Johan Gunnar Andersson (1874–1960), Swedish archaeologist, paleontologist and geologist * Gunnar Andersson (1890 ...
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Guðrið Helmsdal
Guðrið Helmsdal Nielsen (born 26 February 1941 in Tórshavn) 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 Tórshavn, Guðrið Helmsdal Nielsen spent the first 12 years of her life in the Faroe Islands, 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, then in Amager, 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 Faro ...
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Ebba Hentze
Ebba Hentze (25 September 1930 – 20 May 2015) was a Faroese writer of children's books and a poet and translator. She received three Faroese literature and cultural prizes: Barnamentanarheiðursløn Tórshavnar býráðs (Tórshavn City Council's Children's Books Prize) in 1984, Faroese Literature Prize (Mentanarvirðisløn M. A. Jacobsens) in 2006 and Faroese Cultural Prize (Mentanarvirðisløn Landsins) in 2008, together with grants from Denmark and Sweden. Some of her books were written in Danish and some in Faroese. She was most active as a translator, having rendered around a hundred books into Danish from English, German, Faroese, Swedish and Norwegian. Biography Ebba Hentze was an adopted child and grew up in Tvøroyri. Her parents were Peter Christian Pauli Hentze (1891-1971) and Olivia Sophie Skaalum (1888-1976) from Hvalba. As a young girl she moved to Denmark to study. She graduated from High School at the Statens Kursus in Copenhagen in 1950 and then st ...
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Christian Matras (poet)
Christian Matras (7 December 1900 – 16 October 1988) was a Faroese poet and academic. He was the founding professor of the University of the Faroe Islands. He is one of the most important poets in Faroese literature. Life Christian Matras was born in the village Viðareiði, Viðoy, located at far northern end of the Faroe Islands. The surname Matras goes back to an immigrant from France. He attended primary school until he moved to Tórshavn in 1912, where he attended secondary school. He was in a class with Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen and William Heinesen. In 1920, Matras moved to Sorø, Denmark, where he completed his schooling After graduation, Matras studied Scandinavian Studies at the University of Copenhagen. He also spent a semester in Norway, where he worked with Norwegian seals. In 1928, he obtained his MA in linguistics. In 1933 he took a doctor’s degree in Old Norse from the University of Copenhagen with his doctorate with a dissertation on the place name in ...
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