Biography

Andri Snær Magnason (born 14 July 1973) is an Icelandic writer. He has written novels, poetry, plays, short stories, and essays. Andri is also a director and producer of three documentary films that have premiered in IDFA and CPH:DOX. His work has been published or performed in more than 40 countries.

He has received the Icelandic Literary Prize in all categories, fiction, non-fiction and for children's literature. The first time in 1999 for the children's book The Story of the Blue Planet, and again in 2006 for the non-fiction book Dreamland, a critique of Icelandic industrial and energy policy. He also won the prize for his 2013 book, Tímakistan, The Casket of Time.

Andri wrote an obituary for the first glacier Iceland lost to climate change, Ok-glacier in 2019 with these words:

“Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done, only you know if we did it."

His book, On Time and Water from 2019 is a work of narrative non fiction, translated to more than 30 languages. The book explores climate change through language, memory and mythology. He did a TED talk on the issue.

He was a candidate in the 2016 Icelandic presidential election.