Icelandic Literature
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Record Number Of Icelandic Books Being Translated
This year has seen a record number of applications and grants towards translating Icelandic literature into other languages, RÚV reports. The Icelandic Literature Center has provided grants for 111 translations from Icelandic into 28 languages, from 147 applications. Most grants were for…
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Icelandic Author Tops German Bestseller Lists
Ragnar Jónasson’s ‘Hidden Iceland’ has made history by occupying three of the top places on the German bestseller list published by Der Spiegel, RÚV reported this morning. The latest installment, The Mist, which came out in June this year, currently stands at…
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Karítas Hrundar Pálsdóttir’s ‘Árstíðir’: Learning Icelandic Through Literature
For many languages, there are standards of literature that help ease the intrepid polyglot into the new dialect. When I studied French in college, the standard was ‘Les Jeux Sont Faits,’ Sartre’s staple of existentialist French Literature. It accomplished the task of…
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Twenty Years of Skriðuklaustur
Just beyond Iceland’s largest forest and by the southern tongue of a long, slender lake purported to house a cryptid serpent, Skriðuklaustur writes its history. Once a 16th-century monastery and, more recently, home to Icelandic author Gunnar Gunnarsson, Skriðuklaustur now marks its…
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Prison and Paradise: Eminent UK Poets Share Letters With Iceland
Reykjavík’s literary world celebrated solstice with a duet of events featuring heavyweight UK poets Lavinia Greenlaw, Paul Muldoon and poet laureate Simon Armitage. As one of Ireland’s foremost poets, Muldoon has published over thirty collections, including works that have won him a…
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The Next Generation: Una Press Brings Young Icelandic Poetry To The Masses
In the ever-changing world of Icelandic poetry, a new anthology by Una Útgáfuhús, or Una Press, is bringing the next generation of Icelandic poets to the fore. Named ‘Það er alltaf eitthvað’, or ‘There is always something,’ the anthology is a collaborative…
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Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir: There’s No Such Thing As An Innocent Text
“When I decided to become a writer,” says Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, “I started relatively late, like many women writers. I asked myself this very simple question: ‘Do I have something to say?’” Despite her early reservations, Auður did have something to say,…
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This is Ós: Ós Pressan Challenges What Counts As ‘Icelandic literature’
Since the days of sagas and skalds, the abundance and international distinction of Icelandic literature has always seemed an anomaly, deeply disproportionate to the nation’s tiny population and geographic isolation. Although the question of why Icelandic literature has achieved its iconicity has…
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Writing Across the Chasm: Pondering Distance And Travel In Iceview Magazine
Situated halfway up the western coast of Skagi peninsula, the humble fishing village of Skagaströnd seems an unlikely headquarters for an international literary journal. Centuries ago, this northern town served as a major outpost for trade between Iceland and mainland Europe, but…
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A Wide Range Of Voices: A Glimpse Into The Current Icelandic Poetry Scene
Crowds gather to listen to poetry, cram into tiny spaces to attend poetry evenings and queue to receive a poem to go. Large collections of poetry by established writers are published alongside new poets’ chapbooks and the demand for poetry seems to…
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Lit News: TV Adaption Of ‘The Shroud’ In The Works
Original TV dramas have always struggled in Iceland, largely due to the country’s small viewing market and the limited budget of the local networks. However, after the international success of Scandinavian TV programmes such as ‘The Killing,’ along with the streaming services…
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Bónusljóð: Supermarket Poetry Now Available In English
One of Iceland’s most celebrated authors, Andri Snær Magnason, has just released an English translation of his book “Bónusljóð”–one of Iceland’s most sold books of poetry. Furthermore, it has also been republished in Italian, German and Icelandic. The book was first published…
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Get Your Read On : The Perfect Landscape & The Atom Station
Christmas is coming, so here are two more English-translated Icelandic books that we’d recommend as a gift for the Icelandophile in your life. Ragna Sigurðardóttir – The Perfect Landscape A young art historian named Hanna returns to Iceland and takes up a…
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A Life In Reverse: Ragnar Jónasson’s Hulda Series Published By Penguin
This coming March will see the publication of Ragnar Jónasson’s latest thriller in English by publishing house Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Books. Ragnar has already established himself as a major author among the wave of Scandinavian crime writers currently sweeping…
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Sjón & Jón Kalman Among Likely Nobel Prize Winners
Tomorrow, the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in literature will be announced and according to bookies our very own Sjón and Jón Kalman Stefánsson are among the favourites, reports RÚV. Swedish bookies have placed the two in the tenth and eleventh…
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Get Your Read On: The Indian & Angels of the Universe
Each issue, we take a look at two Icelandic titles old and new, available in English translation at most Reykjavík bookstores. If you’d like more ideas, or to read more on Icelandic literature, head over to gpv.is/lit for in-depth author interviews, guides,…
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Bergur Ebbi Benediktsson’s Top 8 Books
Bergur Ebbi is a writer and comedian. He is the author of stage plays and poetry and his latest book, ‘Stofuhiti’, out in April, is an aesthetic essay about personal identity in the age of social media and hyperconnectivity. I only chose…