The 10th annual Reykjavik International Literary Festival is fast approaching, and this year’s is dedicated to one of the festival founders, who passed away last March.
A statement from festival organisers details the event:
On September 7-11, The Reykjavik International Literary Festival will take place for the tenth time. The theme this year is The Sagas as modern epic and fifteen international authors are expected along with publishers and researchers. Ten Icelandic authors take part in the festival.
This year’s festival is dedicated to the memory of the author Thor Vilhjálmsson who was one of the founders of the Reykjavik International Literary Festival in 1985. Thor Vilhjálmsson passed away in March this year.
The international authors are: Herta Müller (DE), Nawal El Saadawi (EG), Horacio Castellanos Moya (SV), Pia Tafdrup (DK), Vikas Swarup (IN), Denise Epstein (FR), Ingo Schulze (DE), Karl Ove Knausgård (NO), Kristof Magnusson (DE), Matt Haig (UK), Paolo Giordano (IT), Steve Sem-Sandberg (SE), Sara Stridsberg (SE) og Alberto Blanco (MX).
The Icelandic authors participating are: Hallgrímur Helgason, Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir, Bergsveinn Birgisson, Ragna Sigurðardóttir, Pétur Gunnarsson, Kristín Svava Tómasdóttir, Bjarni Bjarnason, Ísak Harðarson, Oddný Eir Ævarsdóttir and Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl.
The program will take place at the Nordic House in Reykjavik where there will be author interviews and readings during the day but in the evenings there will be readings in Iðnó theater in the city center. There is free entrance to all readings and discussions and the program is open to all. During the festival there will be international conference in co-operation with Sagenhaftes Island – Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2011 on the Sagas of the Icelanders and the meaning of the medieval literary heritage of Iceland for literature in the world today.
This year a new German translation of all the sagas will be published by S. Fischer Verlage in Germany. The conference will be meeting point for international scholars, authors and publishers. The conference is funded by the EU Culture Programme.
Reykjavik is one of UNESCO’s Cities of Literature.
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