Mikael Torfason

Best-selling author of eight books, ten plays, two mini-series and a Netflix Original.

                                                Welcome to my site.

Writer-director

Theatre

Nominated for BEST PLAY at the Icelandic Grima Theatre Awards. 

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Torfason's latest monologue is Pinot Noir, written for Ganymed in the Kunsthistorische Museum In Vienna. 

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The Perfect Man was a one man show performed in the City Theatre in Reykjavik.

"Torfason's text is solid and to the point... no clichés here... and sometimes way to convincing..."

DV Newspaper 

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"Hits straight home!"

Morgunbladid Newspaper

written by Mikael Torfason

“Mikael Torfason's two-character drama, based on an actual murder case, makes August Strindberg's gruelling "Dance of Death" seem polite. It's like an indie film update of Strindberg, with the twisted psychological games driven to explosive heights by explicit footage of an affair (hers) and animalistic roars and self-flagellation (his).”

The Washington Post

THE ODYSSEY

DIE EDDA

Mikael Torfason successful collaboration with director Thorleifur Orn Arnarsson has given birth to seven plays. They've received numerous prizes for their work in theatres in Iceland, Germany, Austria and Norway.

NJÁLA

GOD BLESS ICELAND

ENEMY OF THE DUCK

MAZE OF KNOWLEDGE

LET'S TALK ABOUT FAUST

THE ODYSSEY

Books

LETTER TO MY MOTHER

SPRING IN ICELAND

STORY OF

A GIRL

THE FALLEN

(Syndafallið)

SAMUEL

(Samúel)

LOST IN PARADISE 

THE WORLD'S STUPIDIEST DAD

FEROX

(Falskur Fugl)

About Mikael Torfason

Mikael Torfason was born and raised in Reykjavik. He has written eight novels, ten plays, two mini-series, a Netflix Original and three feature films. Torfason has also had an extensive career as a journalist, and was Editor-in-Chief of two of the biggest newspapers in Iceland. In 2002 he wrote and directed his first feature film, Made in Iceland (Gemsar). The film was a critical success, and was nominated as best film in Scandinavia. In 2013 his first book, Falskur Fugl, was made into a movie titled Ferox. 

Valhalla Murders (Netflix, 2020) was Torfason’s first TV series, and his second series, Blackport (Arté France, Turbine Studios, 2021), has won numerous prizes, including the Grand Prize at Series Mania 2021. Both series are 8-episode mini-series.

Torfason’s novels have been translated into German, Danish, Finish, Swedish, and Lithuanian. His fourth novel, Samuel (2002), was nominated for the Icelandic Literature Prize, and his third novel, The World Dumbest Father (2000), was nominated for the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize in Scandinavia, and short listed for the DV Literature Prize.

In recent years Torfason has written extensively for theater in Europe. His works include Die Odyssey (Volksbühne, Berlin) and Die Edda (Burgtheater, Vienna), which won the prestigious Deutscher Faust Prize in 2018. Other works include plays for The National Theater in Iceland and Norway, which have won numerous prizes.

Mikael Torfason lives in Berlin. He has five children and is currently writing solely for film and television.