Hildur Knútsdóttir Books In Order

Publication Order of Doddi Books

Publication Order of Ljónið Books

Publication Order of Vetrarfrí Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Hildur Knutsdottir is a young adult and horror fiction novelist from Iceland who is best known for her first English novel The Night Guest, which she published in 2024. However, this was not her first novel as she had published Mowing in 2011. She would also publish several titles in her native Icelandic between 2011 and 2024. She has written children’s and adult fiction in the form of novels, poems, and plays. Most of her work is from subjects you can find in the world of fairy tales and everyday life, even though she sometimes sets her stories on the border of the two worlds. For much of her career, Knutsdottir has showcased her excellence in crafting captivating and intricate stories that have fascinated readers across different age groups. Exploring different genres and themes, she has solidified her place as one of the best contemporary Icelandic literature novelists.

In 2015, Hildur Knutsdottir won the Women’s and Girl’s Literature Prize in Ireland when she published her fairy tale work Vetrarfri for young adults. Its sequel would also be the winner of the 2016 Icelandic Literature Prize. She has also received a nomination for the Reykjavik City Children’s Book Prize and her trilogy The Lion, The Witch and the Forest was the winner of the Children and Young Literature Bookstore Staff Literary Award. Hildur was nominated for the Icelandic Literature Prize, the Fjörður Prize the Young People Literature Prize by the Nordic Council. The author who makes her home in Reykjavik went to the University of Iceland where she graduated with a degree in Creative Writing and Literature.

As for how she got into writing, Hildur Knutsdottir developed an interest in writing while still very young. This was long before she would develop political and feminist proclivities. She loved to read as a child and by the time she was eighteen, she had begun writing. She would then become frustrated with the portrayal of women in the media in Iceland and this would light a fire under her. She then decided to investigate consumerism and gender representation and hated how women were often depicted as consumers rather than active contributors to the economy of Iceland.

During her first novel’s publishing day, she found some blogs promoting excessive consumerism. She hated their consumerist mentality and started writing a satirical fashion blog that copied the style but exaggerated it to the absurd. It was not long before the blog became massively popular, as it offered a platform to critique the portrayal of women in the media. Her observation was that women were primarily asked about their domestic lives as compared to men who were valued for their actions. By working on her blog, she came to realize that writing could be both a political and creative tool. Even though her debut novel was not a political work, her experiences came in as she showcased how important literature is in driving social change and conversations in Iceland. Her work continues to challenge gender stereotypes and societal norms.

Beyond her career as a writer, she has also been involved in politics. For three months in 2017, she filled in for Kolbeinn Ottarsson Proppe as a member of parliament in the Iceland Left-Green Movement. In 2018, she left the party as she got disgruntled with how slow the negotiations were between the Icelandic Association of Midwives and the state. Outside of politics, Hildur is also known for her being very active as a climate activist and her feminist perspectives. She currently makes her home in Reykjavik the Icelandic capital alongside her husband and their two children. She loves to balance her professional endeavors with her personal.

In 2021, Hildur Knutsdottir published her debut novel The Night Guest. This is a deeply disturbing and chilling read about a young woman who makes her home in modern Reykjavic. At the opening of the novel, Iðunn finds herself in a doctor’s office not for the first time since losing her sister. She knows something is not right, as she is always fatigued, even though the blood work has not revealed anything wrong with her and the practitioners have dismissed her symptoms. Talking to her family and friends, they do not offer any new solutions, as they only tell her to establish a nighttime routine, exercise more, and eat better. Iðunn has tried to do what they have suggested and has bought everything from a step counting watch to sleeping pills to vitamins that have done nothing to help. But then she falls asleep one night with her watch on and the next morning, it says that she walked 40,000 steps while she slept. Just what happened during the night, and why does she have disturbing injuries every morning?