Vónbjørt Vang (Faroe Islands)

Vónbjørt Vang (b. 1974) is a Faroese author and librarian. She has published three poetry collections and one prose work (an essay), and her poetry and short stories have also appeared in various other publications. In her writing, Vang explores deep human relationships, often examining how these are intertwined with time and place.

For her most recent poetry collection to date, Black Orchid (“Svørt orkidé”, Eksil, 2023), Vang received the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize for 2025. The work deals primarily with a mother’s fears surrounding her child’s coming of age and the child’s search for their own path in life, driven by a fear of losing them.

The book’s recurring metaphor is the black orchid, which symbolises plant life, the therapeutic effect of gardening and soil, but also the underworld and the darkness into which the child disappears. In addition to poems, the work contains prose passages, and the book is illustrated with collages created by the author herself.
By the time of the festival, the poetry collection Black Orchid will also be published in Estonian by Nordur publishing house (translated from Faroese by Andry Arro), and the book will be available for purchase at the event.