Icelandic Literature
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Get Your Read On: Wayward Heroes & The Creator
If you want the joy of reading a piece of Icelandic literature without the hassle of learning Icelandic, then these two novels, now translated into English, are a great place to start. Halldór Laxness – Wayward Heroes When ‘Wayward Heroes’ (‘Gerpla’, in…
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Second Sight: A Conversation With Sjón
“I write as little as possible,” says Sjón, with a barely perceptible smile and a twinkle in his eye. “In fact, I do everything I can to avoid actual writing.” When he issues this joking-not-joking statement, we’re sitting in a comfortable coffee…
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The Collector’s Habit: Author Oddný Eir Takes It All In
Oddný Eir is a collector. That’s why autumn, she says, is her favourite season. “Autumn is the collecting moment. You collect everything—the berries, the sheep and the children for school. There is the anxiety that winter is coming, but that makes it…
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Sjón To The Future: Do You Read Me?
In 2014, Scottish artist Katie Paterson launched a 100-year art project called The Future Library. One writer a year, starting in 2014, will contribute a written work, which will then go into a trust, until all 100 are published together as an…
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Future Perfect
On “The Story Island,” a fresh young crop of writers is busy carving out a space, making way, creating a culture all of their own, in defiance of what came before. Much like their predecessors, and their predecessors’ predecessors Icelanders’ rich literary…
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Silent No More
Gerður Krístný is an immensely prolific writer, having produced some 18 books—including poetry and short story collections, novels for adults and children, a biography and a travel narrative—since her first publication in 1994. However, she is as of yet relatively unknown to…
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A False Version Of The Truth
When we meet Einar, a seasoned Reykjavík crime reporter, at the opening of Árni Þórarinsson’s ‘Season of the Witch,’ he—much like the country around him—is in the midst of great change, and he’s not terribly happy about it. It’s the early 2000s,…
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The Friendliest Little Crime Fest In Reykjavík
Going into its first year, Iceland Noir, the first ever Icelandic literary festival dedicated exclusively to crime fiction, has already set a high bar: months prior to the event it attracted over one hundred and twenty registered participants, many of whom will…
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In the footsteps of fictional characters
The City Library organises guided walking tours around Reykjavík centre, where scenes of great Icelandic literature are visited. There is a guide who delicately blends the world of fiction with history, while an actor reads excerpts from selected books and brings them…