Rakel Helmsdal facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rakel Helmsdal
Rakel Helmsdal in 2014.
Born	(1966-09-25) 25 September 1966 (age 58) Tårnby, Amager, Denmark
Occupation	writer
Language	Faroese
Genre	Short stories

Rakel Helmsdal (born 25 September 1966) is a Faroese writer. Her mother is the Faroese poet Guðrið Helmsdal and her father the wood artist Ole Jakob Nielsen. Rakel was born in Tårnby, Amager, Denmark, but has lived in Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands for most of her life. She lived for five years in France, where she wrote four of her books. She teaches creative writing.

Together with Áslaug Jónsdóttir from Iceland and Kalle Güettler from Sweden, she has written a series of books about the little and the big monster.

Helmsdal was president of the Faroese writer's association Rithøvundafelag Føroya from 2009 to 2011.

Helmsdal has created her own marionette theatre, which she calls Karavella Marionett-Theatre.

Recognition

• 1996 – Barnabókaheiðursløn Tórshavnar Býráðs (Faroese award) for her children's book Tey kalla meg bara Hugo.
• 2004 – Dimmalim (Icelandic award) for Nei! segði lítla skrímsl, which was written together with Icelandic Áslaug Jónsdóttir and Swedish Kalle Güettler
• 2007 – Barnabókaverðlaun Menntaráðs Reykjavíkur (Icelandic award) for Stór skrímsl gráta ikki, which was written together with Icelandic Áslaug Jónsdóttir and Swedish Kalle Güettler
• 2008 – Won an award in a short story competition, the stories should be for the Faroese youth
• 2009 – Várferðin til Brúnna – nominated for the West Nordic Council's Children and Youth Literature Prize.
• 2011 – Skrímslahæddir nominated for the Fjörðuverðlaun (Icelandic award).
• 2013 – Veiða vind nominated for the Nordic Children's Book Prize (called Nordisk Skolebibliotekarforenings Børnebogspris or Nordisk Børnebogspris in Danish and Norwegian).
• 2013 – Children's Cultural Prize of Tórshavn City Council (Faroese cultural award for children's literature and other cultural achievements), she won the award for Veiða vind and for the books about the Skrímsl (the Monsters) and the plays made of these books
• 2013 – Nominated for the Nordic Council Children and Young People's Literature Prize together with Áslaug Jónsdóttir and Kalle Güettler for the book Klandursskrímsl
• 2016 – Nominated for the West Nordic Council's Children and Youth Literature Prize for her book Hon, sum róði eftir ælaboganum.
• 2016 – Received the West Nordic Council's Children and Youth Literature Prize for her book Hon, sum róði eftir ælaboganum.
• 2017 – Nominated for the Nordic Council Children and Young People's Literature Prize for the book Hon, sum róði eftir ælaboganum
• 2020 – Barnabókaheiðursløn Tórshavnar Býráðs