Lögberg-Heimskringla - 18.11.1994, Page 1

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[ Lögberg 1
neimsKringia
The lcelandic Weekly
Lögberg Stofnaö 14. janúar 1888 Heimskringla Stofnaö 9. september 1886
Inside this week
Poetry by Bragi............
Frón keeps things hopping..................3
Grímkell's Story, eighth installment.......4
A brief visit to Oddi in S. Iceland........5
Where the Heck is Sayreville?..............6
Children's Corner..........................7
108. Árgangur Föstudagur 18. nóvember 1994 Númer 40
108th Year Publications Mail Registration No. 1667 Friday, 18 November 1994■Number 40
lcelandio
Ten tonnes via
Cargolux to the USA
Cargolux, flying the Luxembourg-
Hartford (Connecticut) route, flew
their first freight flight from
Keflavík airport in late October.
The plane took ten tonnes of
freight to lceland and brought ten
tonnes of fish back to the USA.
The new arrangement follows an
agreement between Cargolux and
Nortran hf in lceland. Icelandair
had intended to begin their regu-
lar freight flights at the same time,
but cancelled. An agent for
Cargolux in lceland, Þórarinn
Kjartansson, was happy with the
first flight and felt that reaction to
Cargolux was better than expect-
ed. He said that Cargolux offered
importers new possibilities. The
development is expected to lead
to increased competition and
more air freight services at the air-
port, where lcelandair has up to
now handled ali air freight.
Irving Oil to lceland:
The Canadian oil company, Irving
Oil, is interested in setting up gas
and oil facilities in lceland and to
utiiize the knowledge and experi-
ence the company has acquired in
wörking with the Canadian fishing
industry. The lcelandic legal repre-
sentative for the company, Öttar
Örn Petersen, sent out a news
release recently where he also says
that Irving Oil is interested in
expanding its business and busi-
ness territory. The company ships
its own oil and is interested in
building oil storage facilities in the
neighbourhood of Reykjavík as well
as a transportation center. The
company would hire lcelandic per-
sonnel. Irving Oil representatives
feel that their strong marketing
strategy would benefit the
lcelandic market and especially the
fishing industry. Representatives
from the company also met with
Hennes Valdimarsson, harbourmas-
ter, regarding landing facilities for
their oil tankers. There are now two
oil storage facilities in lceland, one
in Örfirisey and the other at
laugarnes, and at both places
there is space for building more
storage tanks. At the present there
are three companies selling oil and
petroleum products in lceland.
V GUNNUR ISFELD ,
Living Literature
David Amason
Daisy Neijmann
By Kevln Jon Johnson
The fact that Iceland’s ancient
literary tradition remains alive
and well in North America
more than 100 years after the first
pioneers arrived on this continent
was given further evidence this month
at a gathering at the Scandinavian
Centre in Winnipeg.
Some of Canada’s best writers
came together at a literary festival to
offer samples of their recent works.
Most notable among them were
David Amason, the author of several
critically acclaimed books of short
stories and poetry, as well as a novel,
who has two new books this year;
and W. D. Valgardson, ag’ain the
author of several books of short sto-
ries and two novels to his credit. Both
are Icelandic-Manitobans, but both
also have international reputations;
and Martha Brooks, whose books for
young readers have gained her a large
and enthusiastic audience.
The event, which took place on
November 6, was a joint effort of the
Frón and the Icelandic Canadian
Magazine. The Frón supplied the vol-
unteers and the energy to prepare and
serve the brunch that accompanied
the main event, and the Icelandic
Canadian Magazine arranged for the
display and sale of,books as well as
organizing the slate of eloquent and
talented authors who gave readings
from their recent works.
Master of Ceremonies Sigrid
Johnson quieted the audi-
ence and introduced the first
reader shortly after one o’clock.
Mar-tha Brooks read first from her
new anthology of eleven short stories,
Travelling on into the Light. The sto-
W. D. Valgardson
Martha Brooks
ries feature young adult protagonists,
often in the process of transforma-
tions which are breached in diffícult
emotional journeys. The final story,
which she read, reflected a variety of
emotions such as the joys of an
approaching wedding or the sorrow
caused by the death of a mother who
is often recalled by circumstances in
the family’s life. Her stories reflect
irony, humour, sensuality and strong
imagery powerfully reflected in effec-
tive descriptive passages.
Drawn from a sense of loss which
she perceived in her own upbringing,
Kathy Hurlburt, the second reader,
hoped to help the present generation
avoid that by presenting Western
Icelandic children with her story of
huldufólk transplanted from Iceland
to Gimli. Hulduíólk of Gimli is an
engaging children’s story which
revives those secretive and often mis-
chievous characters in a North
American setting.
The third author, W.D. (Bill)
Valgardson, began with a description
of his most recent book Thor, his first
sally into the genre of children’s liter-
ature. Through some unique art work
and an absorbing text which tells the
tale of a young boy’s first experience
in commercial ice fishing with his
grandfather, Valgardson has captured
a seminal aspect of Icelandic-
Manitoban culture. After reading
from Thor, with its uniquely Westem
Icelandic theme, Mr. Valgardson
reflected that perhaps he is regressing
— his last novel was markedly differ-
ent from his earlier work — and that
perhaps if he regressed enough he
would reaquire some more hair.
Although two more children’s
books by this eminent Icelandic-
Canadian author are in the works,
Mr. Valgardson finished his presenta-
tion by reading some short prose
pieces, which he claimed demand the
same discipline as writing sonnets.
These creative little literary gems
reflect the style and intelligence of a
mature artist and was more consis-
tent with most of our expectations
from this master of fiction.
Other readers included Leslie
Peterson, who engaged the
audience with a short story
cast in the form of a diary (and which
appeared in last year’s Christmas
issue of Lögberg-Heimskringla) and a
poem from her chapbook Bearings;
Cont'd p. 2