Alva Gehrmann (b.1973) studied art history and microeconomics. In 2002 she graduated from the Berlin Journalism School. Since then she has been working as a freelance journalist and author. She loves to dive into other cultures and spends several months each year in Northern Europe – mainly in Norway, Iceland and Finland – reporting on, amongst other things, socio-political and cultural topics.

Alva has interviewed Finnish politicians in the sauna, adventured into the ash cloud during the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull, joined the Song and Dance Celebration in Tallinn, portrayed international comedians at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh and experienced New Zealand’s traditional Māori tattoo art in the flesh.

With each project she researches precisely, observes closely and always finds innovative angles in her reporting. Be it a travel story, a profile or an interview e.g. with the Icelandic President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, designer Eero Aarnio or the British comedy legend Eddie Izzard.

Her clients are respected, nationwide-published magazines and newspapers including Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, the online edition of Der Spiegel, GEO Special, FAZ and Die Zeit.

In 2011 she published Alles ganz Isi – Isländische Lebenskunst für Anfänger und Fortgeschrittene (Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, dtv premium) which portrays the Icelandic way of life and was very well-received. During the promotional tour she organized, accompanied by artists and musicians, unique events such as “The day of Icelandic way of life” at a gallery in Berlin.

Alva has also written several non-fiction childrens’ books.  Her most recent book – Das Meer – was published in May 2014 by Carlsen Verlag and portrays the secrets of the sea.  In her stories she dives with a whale in the ocean depths and interviews the famous photographer Yann-Arthus Bertrand (World from Above).

For the past four years Alva has reported regularly on the book industry. She has written about trends in publishing for the Frankfurt Book Fair Blog in German and English, and has profiled so far the Guest of Honours Iceland, New Zealand and Finland.

Facebook-page about the book „Alles ganz Isi“ in German and English: https://www.facebook.com/allesganzisi

Interview in English about the book „Alles ganz Isi“ for the magazine „Iceland Review“ http://icelandreview.com/news/2011/07/17/german-author-praises-icelandic-way-life