Ari Trausti Guðmundsson

About the author

Ari Trausti Guðmundsson (b. 1948 in Reykjavík) has chiefly been active as a non-fiction writer in the fields of geology, volcanology, astronomy, environmental science and mountaineering, with over 20 published boook titles. His parental family stems from Iceland and Germany/Austria.

Educated as a geophysicist in Norway and Iceland, Ari Trausti is well known in Iceland not only as an author but also from radio and television programs and documentaries he has written and hosted. He is also noted as a mountaineer, Arctic traveller and contributor to scientific exhibitions and museums. He is an international member of the Explorers Club.

Ari Trausti has published poetry and short stories in magazines and anthologies since the 1970's. In 2002 he received the Laxness literary prize for his collection of  twelve short stories (Roadlines). He has published three collections of poems (in 2004, 2006 and 2008) and two novels, in 2006 and 2007 (The Land of Silence).

Ari Trausti received, besides the Laxness Prize, the Aurelio Pecei Prize (Italy) in 1998, The Honorary Literary Prize for non-fiction from The Library Fund in 1999 and was nominated for the Literary Prize of Iceland in 2001. He received the Prize for Communication in Science from the Icelandic Centre for Research in 2007.

Publisher: Uppheimar

Fiction

Novels:

Sálumessa: í fimm þáttum, 2011: Uppheimar

Land þagnarinnar, 2007: Uppheimar

Leiðin að heiman, 2005: Uppheimar

Short stories:

Vegalínur, 2002: Edda

Poetry:

Blindhæðir, 2010: Uppheimar

Borgarlínur, 2008: Uppheimar

Krókaleiðir, 2006: Uppheimar

Í leiðinni, 2004: Vaka-Helgafell

Non-fiction

Non-fiction released abroad:

Germany: Bewegung (chapter on Surtsey), 2005: ProFutura

Germany : Island (chapter on nature), 1993 : Du Mont Reiseführer

Germany: Island/Iceland, 1994: Stemmle Verlag og Mál og Menning.

Bandaríkin/England:   Encyclopedia of the Arctic (7 entries), 2005: Routledge

France : La nature en Europe (chapter on Iceland), 1992: Bordas

Italy : Terra di Ghiacco, 1989: Muzeo Nat. della Montagna

Non-fiction published in foreign languages:

English:

Focus on Iceland (photographs: Rafn Hafnfjörð), 2008: Salka

Living Earth: Outline of the Geology of Iceland, 2007: Mál og menning

Listvinahús, Icelandic ceramics 1930-1956, 2006: Arctic Books

YZT: Calligraphy of landscape (with Tolli), 2003, 2004: Tolli

North light(photographs: Ragnar Th. Sigurðsson), 2002: Iceland Review

Reykjavík Into the New Millennium (photographs: Ragnar Th. Sigurðsson), 2000: Arctic Books

Reykjavík: A City For All Seasons (photographs: Sigurgeir Sigurjónsson), 1999: Forlagið

Where Nature Shines (photographs: Sigurgeir Sigurjónsson), 1999: Forlagið

Reykjanes: a Gateway to Iceland, 1998: Iceland Review Volcanoes in Iceland: 10.000 Years of Volcanic History, 1996: Vaka-Helgafell

Vatnajökull: Ice on Fire, 1996: Arctic books

Earth in Action: An Outline of the Geology of Iceland, 1996: Vaka-Helgafell

Mountaineering in Iceland, 1995: Höfundur

Light on ice: Glaciers in Iceland, 1995: Ormstunga

Waterfalls: Poetry in Motion (photographs: Páll Stefánsson), 1995: Iceland Review

Energy resources and Dams in Iceland, 1989: Icelandic National Committee on large dams

German:

Lebende Erde : Facetten der Geologie Islands, 2007: Mál og menning

YZT: Kalligraphie der Landschaft (with Tolli), 2003, 2004: Tolli

Reykjavík: Aufbruch in das neue Jahrtausend (with Ragnar Th. Sigurðson), 2000: Arctic Books

Wo die Natur zu Hause ist (photographs: Sigurgeir Sigurjónsson), 1999: Forlagið

Reykjavík: eine Stadt für jede Jahreszeit (photographs: Sigurgeir Sigurjónsson), 1999: Forlagið Land im Werden : ein Abriß der Geologie Islands, 1996: Vaka-Helgafell

Eisvisionen: die Gletscherwelt Islands (with Helmut Hinrichsen), 1995: Ormstunga

Wasserfälle: Poesie im Fluss (with Páll Stefánsson), 1995: Iceland Review

French:

YZT: calligraphie de paysages (with Tolli), 2003, 2004: Tolli

La terre où la nature s‘éclate (photographs: Sigurgeir Sigurjónsson), 1999: Forlagið

Reykjavík: une cité des quatre saisons (photographs: Sigurgeir Sigurjónsson), 1999: Forlagið

Danish:

Reykjavík – Ind i det nye Århundrede (photographs: Ragnar Th. Sigurðsson), 2000: Arctic Books

Non-fiction in Icelandic:

Listvinahús: Guðmundur frá Miðdal: Leirmunir 1930-1956 = Icelandic Ceramics (with Eiríki Þorlákssyni), 2006: Arctic Books

Eldgos 1913-2004, 2005: Vaka-Helgafell

Íslensk fjöll (with Pétur Þorleifsson), 2004: Mál og menning

Steinuð hús, 2003: Húsafriðunarnefnd ríkisins/Línuhönnun

Íslenskur jarðfræðilykill, 2002: Mál og menning

ÍslEnglishr eldstöðvar, 2001: Vaka-Helgafell

Fólk á fjöllum: gengið á 101 tind (with Pétur Þorleifsson), 1999: Ormstunga

Reykjavík: borg allra veðra (photographs: Sigurgeir Sigurjónsson), 1999: Forlagið

Reykjavík: Á vit nýrra alda,1999: Arctic Books

Vatnajökull: frost og funi, 1996: Arctic Books

Jökulheimar, 1995: Ormstunga

Í sátt við umhverfið : fróðleikur um umhverfismál, 1994: Íslandsbanki

Landið, umhverfið og við, 1993: Námsgagnastofnun

Ferð án enda, 1992: Ísafold

Úr ríki náttúrunnar (with Sigmundi Erni Rúnarssyni), 1991: Ísafold

Fjallabak: Hekla, Landmannalaugar & Eldgjá (with Helmut Hinrichsen), 1991: Höfundur Á ferð um hringveginn, 1990: Líf og saga

Íslandseldar: eldvirkni á Íslandi í 10.000 ár, 1986: Vaka Fjallamennska (co-author: Magnús T. Guðmundsson), 1983: Örn og Örlygur

Ágrip af jarðfræði Íslands, 1982: Örn og Örlygur