Lögberg-Heimskringla - 10.06.1994, Blaðsíða 1

[ Lögberg 1
neimsKringia
The lcelandic Weekly
Lögberg Stofnaö 14. janúar 1888 Heimskringla Stofnaö 9. september 1886
Inside this week:
Scandinavian Hjemkomst Festival......2
Nýja Island Hosts Premiers.........3, 4
Poet's Corner........................5
Einar's Anecdotes....................6
Children's Corner....................7
108. Árgangur Föstudagur 10. júní 1994
108th Year_________Publications Mail Registration No. 1667_____________Friday, 10 June 1994
Númer 21
Number 21
lcelandic
News
An Order for160,000 copies:
■ Ömar Baldursson and Hjörtur Jónsson
are working hard these days at marketing
greeting cards, decorated envelopes and
wall posters ín the USA. They have
received orders tor 160,000 copies from
the USA shopping chains Walgreens and
Wal-Mart. Ómar is the artist and Hjörtur
takes care of the business end. Ómar has
been sketching since he was a boy and he
bses a ballpoint pen to create his colourful
pictures. Most of his cards have fiowers
and faces, but he also sketches birds and
butterflies. Following an accident on a fish-
ing boat, it became apparent that Omar
could no longer work at sea. He, therefore,
turned to his art with more enthusiasm than
before. Two months ago the first samples
were sent to the USA and positive answers
soon arrived. A Dutch company has also
shown interest in his products. The great-
est interest has been shown in his "wooing
posters", and "proposa! posters" where
the individual can write his own name in ori
a prepared text. The envelopes have also
created interest. Offers have arrived from
the USA to print the greetings and posters,
but they prefer to keep the productíon in
lceland.
GUNNUR ISFELD
Beef's puríty wins US sales
■ Exports and sales of lcelandic beef in
the US could reach 200-300 tons in 1994
following certification by US officials that
the product is free from all trace sub-
stances.
Reports said that negotiations with a
US chain of "pure food" stores were in
their final stages, and that the lcelandic
beef was to be marketed as free from
hormones, antibiotics, pesticides and
insecticídes.
Plans call for the beef to be consumer-
packed in lceland as hamburger, ready-
made hamburger patties, and steaks.
Sources at meat-sales firm Kaupsýslan
hf said the U$ stamp of purity guaran-
teed the product prices some 30% high-
er than in the absence of such certifica-
tion, or roughly 40-45% higher than for
New Zealand fcieef sold in the US.
The new export and sales deal was
arranged by lceland's Association of
Beef Cow Farmers together with
Kaupsýslan hf.
Courtesy Neivs Prom lceland
New face at U.of fH.
Dr. Daisy (Désirée) Neijmann
appointed Assistant Professor
Of Icelandic-Canadian Studies
By Klrsten Wolf
Chalr
Department of lcelandlc
Universlty of Manltoba
In 1992, funds were made avail-
able to the Department of
Icelandic Language and Liter-
ature at the University of Manitoba to
establish a term position at the rank
of lecturer or assistant professor. The
position is funded partly by the inter-
est accrued on the $300.000 grant,
which in 1990 was awarded to the
University of Manitoba by Secretaiy
of State (Department of Multi-
culturalism) to enhance instruction
and research in Icelandic Canadian
studies, partly by interest accrued on
moneys raised by the HIP Committee,
and partly by a modest contribution
from the Faculty of Arts.
In December 1993, the Dean of
the Faculty of Arts, approved the
Department’s request to advertise a
position in Icelandic-Canadian stud-
ies. The position is at the rank of
assistant professor and will run from
September 1994 to August 1996 (with
a possibility of extension to August
1997). The position is in the field of
Icelandic-Canadian studies, and its
duties include undergraduate and
graduate teaching within the field of
Modern Icelandic, research in the
area of Icelandic-Canadian studies,
service on university committees, and
community service through outreach
activities.
The University of Manitoba has
conducted an intemational search to
fill the position, and I am delighted to
announce that Dr. Daisy (Désirée)
Neijmann has been appointed assis-
tant professor in the Department.
Born in Holland in 1963, Dr. Neij-
mann attended the Free University of
Amsterdam, from where she graduat-
ed with a B.A. in 1983 and with an
M.A. degree cum laude in English lit-
erature in 1988. In addition to cours-
es in English literature, Dr. Neij-
mann’s M.A. degree included courses
in Modern and Old Icelandic lan-
guage and literature as well as
Icelandic-Canadian literature; indeed,
Dr. Neijmann spent a year on a Gov-
ernment of Canada Award (World
University Service of Canada for the
Department of Extemal Affairs) study-
ing Icelandic-Canadian literature and
Canadian literature at the University
of Manitoba under the supervision of
Professors Haraldur Bessason and
David Amason. Upon the completion
of her M.A. degree, Dr. Neijmann
embarked on her doctoral disserta-
tion, the topic of which was Icelandic-
Canadian literature and its role in
Canadian multiculturalism.
Dr. Neijmann’s dissertation, which
was published under the title The
Icelandic Voice in Canadian Letters:
The Contribution of Icelandic-Cana-
dian Writers to Canadian Literature,
was completed and defended at the
Free University of Amsterdam in the
spring of 1994. This thesis is the not
only the most authoritative work on
the Icelandic presence in Canadian lit-
erature to date; its real value is, as one
of her recommenders points out, Dr.
Neijmann’s “fine perception of the
way in which pioneering mythopoeia,
the Icelandic prose tradition, and ele-
ments out of Icelandic mythology
have been incorporated into that pres-
ence.” The same professor notes that
Dr. Neijmann “not only characterizes
the Icelandic contribution to
Canadian literature: she relates her
findings to the more global phenome-
non of magic realism, and indeed of
postmodernism in general” and that
“in so doing, she convincingly demon-
strates that her finger is firmly on the
pulse of our increasingly pluralist soci-
ety, and possesses a strong sense of
the political implications of relating its
concerns to both ethnic as well as
global issues of literary culture.” An
extract from the dissertation was pre-
sented at the University of Manitoba
in September 1993 in the form of a
lecture entitled “The Icelandic Voice
in Canadian Letters: Icelandic-
Canadian Literature Past and
Present.” This lecture was subsequent-
ly published in Lögberg-Heimskringla.
hile working on her doctoral
dissertation, Dr. Neijmann
spent a year (1989-1990) on
a Canadian Studies Graduate Student
Award at the University of Manitoba
for research purposes. In 1991, she
was employed by The Netherlands
Organization for Scientific Research
Dr. Dalsy Neljmann
on a contract to continue her work on
Icelandic-Canadian literature. The
years 1991-1992 she spent in
Reykjavík, conducting research in the
National Library and at the University
of Iceland.
Dr. Daisy Neijmann has consid-
erable teadíing experience at
various levels. From January
to August 1989 and from August 1990
to August 1991, she was employed as
a teacher at Framhaldsskólinn in
Húsavík. In 1992, she taught at the
Free University of Amsterdam. She
has also worked freelance for profes-
sional conference organizers and been
involved in preparing and organizing
conference activities for a wide variety
of clients.
I am certain that Dr. Daisy Neij-
mann, who is fluent in Icelandic and
English, will make a very significant
contribution to the teaching, research,
and outreach activities of the
Department of Icelandic Language
and Literature. Indeed, one of her rec-
ommenders comments that she will be
“a strong asset to any academic insti-
tution fortunate enough to enjoy her
affiliation.” Yet another recommender
emphasizes that in Iceland she
“eamed a good reputation among staff
and students” and that she “made a
number of friends both in Iceland and
in the Icelandic communities in
Manitoba where she became a wel-
come visitor during her term of stud-
ies at the University of Manitoba.” Dr.
Neijmann is scheduled to arrive in
Winnipeg in August and will be
assuming her duties at the University
of Manitoba on September 1. I feel
confident that the Icelandic commu-
nity will join me in extending to Dr.
Neijmann a very warm welcome to
Canada and make every effort to
ensure that her stay in Winnipeg will
be a pleasant experience.