Born in Reykjavik on September 17th, in 1934, when Iceland was still under the Danish Crown, Inga Birna has seen many transformations in her life and in her world. She played a minor role in the Second World War, translating and passing love letters between young Icelandic women and occupying American soldiers. This was her first touch with the arts of language and poetry.

She wrote her first poem when she was 10 years old, sitting on the top of a mountain. It is called Rigningin mín komdu – or in English Come rain, my friend. Since then, Inga Birna has never stopped writing and producing literary works spanning from essays, speeches and political debate articles to plays, poems and children’s stories.

Inga Birna’s writings project her insistent curiosity about and concern for the human condition – she often portrays the social and psychological dynamics within and around those who, in certain settings or situations, are not the decision makers in their own lives, be they women, children, immigrants or even animals. She combines this theme with a predilection for poetic freedom, absurd humor and magical intervention.

Inga Birna completed her B.A. of the Danish language at the University of Iceland. She taught at a secondary high school in Reykjavik from 1964 to 1969 and at the Teacher’s college in Reykjavik from 1969 to 1977, and she chaired the Icelandic Council of Culture for one election period in the early seventies. She was also a popular voice on the national radio in Iceland, reading stories and talking about societal issues of the day.

In 1977, she packed her bags and her three children and moved to Denmark, where she had lost her heart to a progressive society built on social-democratic principles. There she majored in Danish and English at The Copenhagen University. She taught English at a Danish college for about 25 years and was actively involved in local politics. All the while, she never gave up her passion for writing and sharing her thoughts about society and the world, continuing to explore new genres. In the mid 90s she established a theater troupe, Ruderne, setting up on stage several of her plays (Hvad vil du ha’; Skik følge, eller land fly). She also established Stokrose Publishing and published some of her own works as well as those of two fellow writers; Jørgen Dreijer and Ragnhildur Olafsdottir.

Today, Inga Birna resides in one of her favorite spots on the planet, Copenhagen. One of her favorite activities is meditation and study with Brahma Kumaris, for whom she has also made translation work. Some of her most recent writings include Himintunglahundurinn, The Celestial Dog, a rhyme about a little girl and her friend, the celestial dog. Inga Birna will be updating this website regularly with her latest arrivals.

You are welcome to read and download any texts from here but please keep in mind that they are copyrighted, so if you want to copy and redistribute any of Inga Birna’s texts, please contact her in advance for permission and please do not alter the content of any texts copied or derived from this website.