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Writers’ Union Of Iceland Encourages Authors Boycotting Storytel
The board of the Writers’ Union of Iceland (Rithöfundasamband Íslands) is encouraging its members to not submit their literature to the streaming service Storytel. The company, which offers audiobook and e-book streaming to their clients, is said to pay “hilariously” low royalties…
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The Cozy Crime Conference Caper
Iceland Noir brought big names and dark conversations to town If you’ve ever wondered how to commit the perfect murder, yearned to bask at the feet of Sara Blædel, or to dance to Irvine Welsh’s acid house, then Iceland Noir 2023 was…
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Fresh Perspective Of Immigrant Writers
Tired of the same old established writer telling you the same story in different words again and again? Well, we have something new for you—you ungrateful and ever-demanding bastards. Iceland is chock full of brilliant immigrant writers sharing their fresh perspective of…
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The Writer, The Prophet: Sigríður Hagalín Has Gone From News To Nightmarish Dystopias
If you live in Iceland, the odds are that you know exactly who Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir is. As a well-known news reporter at RÚV, our national broadcaster, she often sits down with politicians or prominent figures in society as part of the…
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Navigating Life Through Meaning: Auður Jónsdóttir Writes Her Own Self
Auður Jónsdóttir established herself as one of Iceland’s best writers of a new generation when her novel, ‘The people in the basement’ (‘Fólkið í kjallaranum’) was published in 2004. Auður uses the idea of family often in her novels and she is…
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Hallgrímur Helgason: Torn Between Keith Haring and the Sagas
Hallgrímur Helgason is in some ways a rebel when it comes to Icelandic fiction, and his weapons are pleasantly disarming; humour and entertainment. It took publishing four books for him to feel accepted into what we often refer to as the “culture-elite”…
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Modern Stories From A City That Is Barely A City: Our Review of ‘ The Book Of Reykjavík’
How does one describe a city that is barely a city? Reykjavík was a town for most of the 20th century. Suddenly, the city moniker crept up on us. There was an announcement in the late 80s. A headline announcing there was…
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Reykjavík Literary Festival To Take Place September 8th-11th
The Reykjavík International Literary Festival will take place from September 8th to 11th, after having been rescheduled due to COVID-19. The festival has been ongoing every two years since 1985 and is touted as “a meeting place for readers and authors”, according…
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Ask An Expert: How Were Clothes Symbolically Depicted In The Sagas?
For a modern reader picking up the Sagas of the Icelanders for the first time, they can often be struck by the strange modernity of the prose. However, there are just as many, perhaps more, instances that leave us confused. The world…
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Prime Minister Reveals Plans To Write A Crime Novel
Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir has revealed that she is planning on branching out into the world of fiction writing, Fréttablaðið reports. In an interview with RÚV last week, Katrín and best selling author Ragnar Jónsson talked about their planned collaboration, which they…
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Wordflood: ‘Bókamessa’ Boasts A Record-Breaking Year For Fiction And Poetry Books
Bókamessa, Iceland’s annual book fair, is a déluge of books, publishers, readers, writers, and piparsmákökur—Icelandic pepper cookies. As the kick-off to the country’s infamous Jólabókaflóð, or Christmas Book Flood, the book fair, now in its ninth year, provides a safe harbour to…
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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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‘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…
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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…
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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…
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Nationalising Words: Literature As A Means Of Bridging Iceland With The World
Unlike in most European languages, þýða, the Icelandic word for translation, denotes translation as the act of nationalising a foreign word, making the meaning agreeable to Icelanders. For Rúnar Helgi Vignisson, a well-established Icelandic writer, translator and associate professor at the University…
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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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Partus Gives Birth Abroad: The Icelandic Publisher Goes International
Since its inception in 2015, Partus Press has kept a finger on the pulse of the Icelandic literary scene, providing a platform for the newest generation of authors to showcase their work on a national scale. Beginning with the elegant, hand-bound chapbooks…
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Miss Vanjie Of The North: A Borgarnes Monument To An Insignificant Saga Character
You would be forgiven for assuming, upon visiting Borgarnes, that the elegant modern monument atop a hill in the town’s old centre commemorates some crucial figure or moment from local history. Carved in stone, the sculpture takes the shape of a ram’s…
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The Queer Canon Of Iceland: Ásta Kristín Benediktsdóttir Explores An Oft-Ignored Topic
The roster for Reykjavík Pride is full of engaging and thought-provoking events. From stand up shows by gay comedians to queer choir concerts to lectures on masculinity, the programme is designed to push the envelope and fascinate both newbies to queer culture…
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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…
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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,…
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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…