-
‘Öræfi’ And ‘CoDex 1962’ Nominated For BTBA Best Translated Book Award
Two Icelandic novels are nominated for this year’s Best Translated Book Award. The longlist for the award was announced this week by online magazine The Millions. The books in question are ‘Öræfi: The Wasteland’ by Ófeigur Sigurðsson, translated by Lytton Smith and…
-
Sensibility is a Muscle: Turkish author Hakan Günday brings his love of language
With his eighth novel, “More,” published by Arcade, Hakan Günday entered the relatively small group of contemporary Turkish authors whose work is available in English translation. His standing in that group was cemented when an earlier work, “The Few,” was published in…
-
The Terror of the Metaphysical: Iain Reid Represents His Niche
Over the past few years, Canadian author Iain Reid has seen rising success after the publication of his first novel “I’m Thinking of Ending Things.” Dubbed a “philosophical thriller,” the hit debut is currently being adapted into a Netflix film by famed…
-
Sketches in the Sand: Rán Flygenring On Birds, Art And Play
Recently, the niche market of Icelandic-bird-guides-in-English gained a new addition in the form of “BIRDS,” a translation of Hjörleifur Hjartarson and Rán Flygenring’s award-winning ornithological guide. The volume is illustrated in Rán’s distinctive drawing style, which provides ample means of identifying the…
-
Iceland Guest Of Honour At Gdansk Book Fair
This March, Iceland will be the Guest of Honour at the Gdańskie Targi Książki literature festival in Gdansk, Poland. The Centre for Icelandic Literature reports that along with several Icelandic publishers, authors Hallgrímur Helgason, Steinunn Sigurðardóttir, Einar Kárason, Elísabet Jökulsdóttir and Sigríður…
-
Kristín Ómarsdóttir & Kristín Eiríksdóttir Nominated For 2019 Nordic Council Literature Prize
Last week, the Nordic Council announced the nominations for the 2019 Nordic Council Literature Prize. Two Icelandic authors are nominated this year: Kristín Eiríksdóttir for her novel ‘Elín, ýmislegt’ (‘Elín, miscellaneous’) and Kristín Ómarsdóttir for her poetry collection ‘Kóngulær í sýningargluggum’ (‘Spiders…
-
Best In Translation: Our Picks Of The 2018’s Best English-Translated Icelandic Literature
2018 was a year of travel for Icelandic fiction, with the number of titles published in translation tripling from a mere decade ago. Here are some favourites that we have been passing around the Grapevine offices this year. Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir –…
-
The Mountains of Madness: Ófeigur Sigurðsson’s ‘Öræfi’ Published In English
When Ófeigur Sigurðsson’s third novel ‘Öræfi’—an experimental novel set in Iceland’s desolate Öræfi region—first went off to the printers, the author himself didn’t spend much time pondering the book’s fate. “I really didn’t think anyone would ever publish it in the first…
-
In The Belly Of The Whale: Sjón’s ‘CoDex 1962’ Published In English
This autumn, Sjón’s anglophone readership will be glad to discover a new novel by the author in UK and US bookshops. However, fans of this master of the short novel might be surprised —thrilled, even—by the sheer heft of the book in…
-
The Reykjavík Writer: Bragi Ólafsson’s ‘Narrator’ Published By Open Letter Books
This August marks the publication of “Narrator,” Bragi Ólafsson’s third novel on the English language market. As with “The Pets” and “The Ambassador”—Bragi’s previous works in English—“Narrator” is published by US publisher Open Letter Books, home of several Icelandic authors in translation.…
-
Language is a Weapon: Elías Knörr On Poetry & Prejudice
If you have attended a Reykjavík poetry reading in recent years, chances are you have been lucky enough to catch Elías Knörr performing his poetry with his signature flair. While other performers tend to hide their eyes in notebooks and printouts, he…
-
Ten Years in Translation: US Publisher Of Icelandic Fiction Open Letter Books Fills A Decade
Speak with any Anglophone translator of literature for longer than a few minutes and you’re likely to hear the number “three percent” being thrown around. It’s the percentage of books published in English each year that are literary translations. It has, therefore,…
-
Trapped In A Narrative: New Book On The Guðmundur And Geirfinnur Case Released In The UK
For most Icelanders, the names Guðmundur and Geirfinnur have immediate connotations. In January and November of 1974, these two seemingly unconnected men vanished without a trace in and around Reykjavík, leading to speculation and paranoia in the community that eventually lead to…
-
Over and Over Again: Kristín Ómarsdóttir’s Poetry Published By Carcanet
This summer, UK publisher Carcanet joins forces with Reykjavík/Manchester based publisher Partus to put out “Waitress in Fall”, a collection of poetry by Kristín Ómarsdóttir. The book presents a selection from Kristín’s career, including poems from her seven poetry books, published between…
-
Last Words: Dear Future Employer
The following is one of the many job applications the author has sent to advertising firms in his career as a writer. Dear ad company, I would like a job in advertising. You see, ad company, I’m very tired. I’ve tried to…
-
Tomorrow Will Be Worse: Kristín Svava Tómasdóttir’s ‘Stormwarning’ published in the US
Although Icelandic literature is today widely available in other languages, translations of Icelandic poetry are a relative rarity—this despite the vibrant Reykjavík poetry scene which has recently seen an influx of younger poets due to the efforts of grassroots publishers and festivals.…
-
Alexander Dan On The Untapped Resource of Icelandic Fantasy
In 2014, when Alexander Dan first started looking for a publisher for the sci-fi/fantasy novel that he’d worked on for the past four years, the response was somewhat disheartening. “I couldn’t figure out why the manuscript kept getting rejected,” he reminisces. “I…
-
An Elegy for a Murdered Woman: Gerður Kristný’s ‘Drápa’ Now In English
This month, UK based Arc Publication will be publishing Drápa, Icelandic author and poet Gerður Kristný’s second book to appear in English. The book is a novel-in-verse that takes the form of a “drápa”—a verse form often found in Viking Age skaldic…
-
Manipulating Time in Search of Meaning: ‘Hotel Silence’ Published In English
This month, Pushkin Press and Grove Atlantic will be publishing ‘Hotel Silence’, Icelandic author and playwright Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir’s third novel to appear in English, and her fifth overall. Upon its publication in 2016, the book won the Icelandic Literature Prize. More…
-
The Fact of Fiction: “Woman at 1,000 Degrees” Published In English
Though the Icelandic Christmas book season is over, the next few months mark the release of many Icelandic translations into other languages by publishers across the world. One such is Hallgrímur Helgason’s 2011 novel ‘Woman at 1,000 Degrees,’ published by Algonquin Books…
-
Get Your Read On: Snare & Whiteout
It’s winter. Don’t go out. It’s disgusting out there. Turn up the radiators and read one of these. Snare – Lilja Sigurðardóttir Sonja’s life is in tatters. Losing custody of her son after her husband catches her in bed with a woman,…
-
The Eagle and the Falcon: Fantasy Of A Nazi-Occupied Iceland
The tapestry of Icelandic writing in the 21st century is an ever expanding one. This is largely because although most Icelanders read English-language novels of all varieties, the Western world’s proclivity for literary subgenres has come relatively late to Icelandic publishing. Still,…
-
The Book Flood Cometh: Iceland’s ‘Jólabókaflóð’ Arrives Once Again
The Icelandic Yuletide is a time for two things: Reading and eating—and you can only do so much eating. Every year, during the “Jólabókaflóð,” or Christmas book flood, Icelandic publishers release a high volume of new works to fill the shelves just…
