Pedro Gunnlaugur Garcia is an Icelandic-Portuguese novelist known for his poignant and introspective works, use of magical realism and exploration of the complexities of human relationships and the challenges of intimacy and communication.
Pedro was born in sunny Lisbon in 1983 to an Icelandic mother and Portuguese father, but – unfortunately for him – as a child he moved to the windy rokrassgat known as Reykjavík. 💨💨💨 He has never forgiven Fate for this needlessly cruel twist.
He graduated from the University of Iceland with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a Master’s in Culture and Communication. As part of his thesis he wrote a theatrical play based on the short-lived reign of Jörundur, King of Dog Days. Pedro had previously composed volumes of poetry and short stories as a teenager – only to burn all of them ceremoniously out of frustration one day, concluding dramatically that writing fiction was a ultimately nothing more than a deluded exercise in meaninglessness. Writing the satirical piece rekindled his interest (it was fun! he was okay at it!) and inspired Pedro to venture into further fiction writing. Prior to this, his work experience had included being an IKEA employee (3 years), working with autistic children (3 years), sandwich shop (3 years), ice cream shop (1 day). He played in a noise rock band too, but don’t ask him about it.
Pedro received special recognition for his poem Leikbrúður in 2018, anonymously sent into the Ljóðstafur Jóns úr Vör competition. His debut novel Málleysingjarnir, written in Icelandic, was published in 2019 after having won the New Voices grant from the Icelandic Literature Center. Bleak, wildly surreal and heavy with black humor it features mad dictators, talking animals and dysfunctional families, all trying to cope with existence in times of turmoil. The novel was well received by readers and reviewers alike, being described on the television program Kiljan as “an incredibly mature first work, written with immense assuredness. An extremely powerful book.”
The follow-up Lungu (2022) was an immediate success and received the prestigious Icelandic Literary Prize. It spent eight consecutive weeks as the number one bestseller in Iceland. Featuring life-saving olives, flying women, gigantic roosters, psychic sex and forbidden love, the story is propelled imaginatively from one generation to the next – encompassing many of life’s tragedies and fleeting moments of happiness. Lungu has been sold to Germany (Hoffmann und Campe), France (Éditions Métailié), Poland (Poznanskie), Portugal (Guerra e Paz Editores), Brazil (Editora Nós) and World Spanish (Anaya).
Pedro’s translations into Icelandic include essays, poetry, short stories and novels – such as the acclaimed Jerusalém by Portuguese author Gonçalo M. Tavares. He is currently working on his third book, a historical novel which takes place in 19th century France and Iceland. He still lives in Reykjavík, for some reason.
Pedro Gunnlaugur Garcia 