Bjarni Harðarson

Bjarni Harðarson

Member of Parliament
In office 2007–2008
Prime Minister	Geir Haarde

Personal details
Born	(1961-12-25) 25 December 1961 (age 62) Hveragerði, Iceland
Political party	Progressive Party L-List of Sovereignty Supporters
Profession	book seller

Bjarni Harðarson (born 25 December 1961 in Arnýjarhús, Hveragerði)^[1] is a bookseller, novelist, and former MP from the Icelandic Progressive Party.

Election and resignation

Bjarni was elected to parliament in 2007 as the eighth MP from the South Constituency. On November 10, 2008, he was involved in a political scandal; when he mistakenly leaked a document of his that contained strong criticism of Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, vice chairman of the Progressive Party, by emailing it to the press.^[2] The day after, Bjarni resigned from parliament.^[3]

2009 election

In the 2009 election, Bjarni ran as a candidate for the L-List of Sovereignty Supporters. He did not win a seat in the Althing; his previous constituency was taken by Margrét Tryggvadóttir.

Literary activities

Bjarni and his wife Elín Gunnlaugsdóttir (composer and poet) run Bókakaffið (https://www.bokakaffid.is/), a legendary bookshop in Selfoss which opened on October 6, 2006,^[4] and an outlet with the same name in Ármúli in Reykjavík. The two shops specialise in the sale of new and used books. The ever-growing publishing arm of Bókakaffið is Sæmundur (formerly Sunnlenska bókaútgáfan^[5]), boasting of a catalogue of more than 200 books.

Bjarni has published numerous novels, including:

Mörður (Selfoss: Sæmundur, 2014), ISBN 978-9935-465-04-7
Mensalder (Selfoss: Sæmundur, 2012), ISBN 9789935901491; 9935901491
Sigurðar saga fóts: Íslensk riddarasaga (Selfoss: Sæmundur, 2010), ISBN 9789935901408; 9789935901439
Svo skal dansa: skáldsaga úr veruleikanum (Reykjavík: Veröld, 2009), ISBN 9789979789567; 9979789565

He has also published on folklore, and a collection of articles:

Farsældar Frón: greinasafn Bjarna Harðarsonar (Selfoss: Sunnlenska bókaútgáfan, 2008) ISBN 9789979960379; 997996037X.
Landið, fólkið og þjóðtrúin: kortlagðir álagablettir og byggðir trölla, álfa, drauga, skrímsla og útilegumanna í Árnesþingi (Selfoss: Sunnlenska bókaútgáfan, 2001), ISBN 9979607025; 9789979607021.

Bjarni likes to write while abroad, drafting Sigurðar saga fóts in Ethiopia,^[6] writing Mensalder largely in a five-week period in Pakistan,^[7] and writing Mörður in Senegal.^[8]

References

^ Flyleaf to Bjarni Harðarson, Mörður (Selfoss: Sæmundur, 2014).
^ www.visir.is
^ Mbl.is
^ "Ársafmæli Sunnlenska bókakaffisins".
^ "Pressan.is". Archived from the original on 2014-03-27. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
^ Skapti Hallgrímsson, 'Á ekki að vera harmagrátur', Morgunblaðið, 14 November 2010, http://www.mbl.is/mm/mogginn/blad_dagsins/bl_grein.html?grein_id=1356480.
^ Toti, 'Ritstörfin eru eins og brennivínið', Fréttartíminn, 08.11 2012, [1].
^ 'Mörður var ekki endilega illmenni', 14 June 2014, http://www.mbl.is/greinasafn/grein/1512999/; http://www.menningarstadur.123.is/blog/2014/06/14/morur-var-ekki-endilega-illmenni/.