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 to their website.

The festival will take place in two historic houses at opposite ends of Tjörnin in Reykjavík, reports RÚV. Interviews will be conducted during the day at Nordic House (Norræna húsið) while readings and discussions will take place at Iðnó in the evenings.

Authors from all over the world will travel to Reykjavík to attend the event. The city, a proud UNESCO designated City of Literature, is an all too appropriate setting for writers and avid readers to congregate.

Among the countless well-respected authors slated to arrive for the festival are Leïla Slimani, a French author of Moroccan origin, Khaled Khalifa born and currently living in Syria and Turkish author Elif Shafak. Some authors are from abroad yet currently reside in Iceland such as Joachim Schmidt, who is Swiss-born but often sets his stories in Iceland–his home for the past five years.

Gerður Kristný, Þórarinn Eldjárn and Halla Þórlaug Óskarsdóttir are among the Icelandic authors to participate. Overall there are expected to be twelve foreign writers and eleven Icelandic writers involved in the four day festival.

Admission to the Reykjavík Literature Festival is free and open for all to attend. Discussions will be held in English while the readings will take place in the mother tongue of the author.

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