Andri Snær Magnason is concerned with climate change across long time spans and generations, often working with perspectives of 100 years or more. He is particularly interested in the relationship between ice and water, and in how this can be communicated both scientifically and poetically in order to better understand the future of the climate. In his book On Time and Water, he interweaves personal narratives with natural and climate science to frame changes in the oceans and the climate within both human and geological perspectives—including how melting ice sheets and rising sea levels impact nature and society on a global scale.
As part of Bringing In The Tide, he contributes a literary art project that engages with research on rising sea levels and their implications for the Wadden Sea, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. The project is rooted in Magnason’s deep engagement with language and literary practice and unfolds as a long‑term, performative work that brings together science, education, and general knowledge.
In addition to its literary dimension, the project includes sculptural and ritual elements, forming a cohesive narrative that unfolds as an extended artistic and communicative process. Its aim is to stimulate collective awareness and shared agency in relation to climate change among the broader public, with a particular focus on children and young people.
BIO
Andri Snær Magnason is an Icelandic writer (b. 1973, Reykjavík). He has worked across almost all genres, from poetry and non‑fiction to children’s literature and science fiction, and is also a documentary filmmaker and environmental activist. Magnason is the only author to have received the Icelandic Literary Prize in all categories. He has also received major literary awards in France, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy, including the Philip K. Dick Honorary Award in the U.S. and the Premio Tiziano Terzani in Italy.
Magnason wrote the text for the memorial plaque for OK, the first glacier in Iceland to lose its status as a glacier—and its symbolic sense of permanence—due to climate change. A film adaptation of his work On Time and Water premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and will be screened at CPH:DOX in March 2026.