Lögberg-Heimskringla - 11.02.2005, Síða 12

12 * Lögberg-Heimskringla * Friday 11 February 2005
Icelandic prize winner
hits snag in Canada
Icelandic writer Andri
Snær Magnason has run into a
snag in finding a publisher for
his latest book, The Story of the
Blue Planet, despite its success
in Iceland. Magnason’s book
won the Icelandic Literary
Prize, the first children’s book
to do so, and has been pub-
lished in 14 countries.
The book has also been
adapted for the stage and is
being shown at Toronto’s Lor-
raine Kimsa Theatre for Young
People.
Magnason told Tómas
Gunnarsson in an interview
published in Fálkinn, newslet-
ter of the Icelandic Canadian
Club of Toronto (ICCT), that
he was confident about the
story as he wrote it. “It might
sound arrogant, but when I was
writing the book my family
asked what I was doing. I told
them I was writing a classic
children’s story that would be
reprinted for 200 years. When
they asked if I had a publisher
I said I had no worries, I could
find a publisher anywhere in
the world.”
Magnason’s faith in his
own work was borne out in
Iceland and other countries, but
despite its success, The Story of
the Blue Planet wasn’t an easy
sell in Canada. According to a
recent article in the Globe and
Mail, a Canadian publisher ex-
pressed interest in the book, but
asked that Magnason remove
references to a seal being eat-
en, and to a child who hugged
and kissed two other children
as thanks for saving his life.
Magnason declined to name the
publisher, but says he was told
such material wouldn’t suit a
North American audience. He
is currently seeking other pub-
lishers.
Magnason himself is no
stranger to North America, hav-
ing lived here from age three
to nine. He began writing and
publishing in his mid-twenties,
including a collection of short
stories, Engar smá sögur, and
satirical poetry in Bónus Ijóð,
poems inspired by Iceland’s
largest supermarket chain.
As for whether consider-
ations of an international au-
dience for his work changes
the way he approaches writ-
ing, Magnason told Fálkinn, “I
guess a writer has to be careful
not to think too much about it,
you might stop making deep
references to history or lan-
guage or become afraid of be-
ing ‘untranslatable’ or try to be
too universal.
“On the other hand a writer
has to be in close contact with
the world and bring influences
back home. The most trans-
lated books from Icelandic
are books that might seem un-
translatable, like 101 Reykjavík
by Hallgrímur Helgason and
books like Independent People
by Laxness. Both of them are
under strong international in-
fluence but very Icelandic at
the same time.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF PETER HOLMES
Author Andri Snær Magnason spoke of his play Tlie Blue
Planet at a literary evening hosted by Icelandic Ambassador
Guðmundur Eiríksson at the ambassador’s Ottawa residence.
The evening was attended by members of the Friends of Ice-
land (FOI) and others.
Icelandic online dictionary
and readings at U of W
Intemet surfers looking for
Icelandic culture online have
a new resource, thanks to the
University of Wisconsin and
the University of Iceland.
Working in partnership
with the University of Iceland
and a number of other sponsors
(including The Andrew Mellon
Foundation), the University of
Wisconsin Digital Collections
group has created the Icelandic
Online Dictionary and Read-
ings website. This website also
complements the University of
Iceland’s Internet course, Ice-
landic Online.
Additionally, the site con-
tains the unabridged content
of the 1989 Concise Icelandic-
English dictionary and a set of
readings in modern Icelandic
life, literature and culture.
As an extra treat, visitors
also have access to a collection
of works by the famous Ice-
landic poet, Jónas Hallgríms-
son. Visitors will want to make
sure and read some of his well-
known poems, including “The
Vastness of the Universe” and
“The Style of the Times,” trans-
lated by Dick Ringler.
The website can be found
at http://libtext.library.wisc.
edu/IcelOnline/.
Looking
for travellers
Walter Sopher, President
of the Icelandic National
League of North America, is
planning a tour to Iceland in
May and is iooking for more
travellers with the best deal
available in mind.
“Some people have asked
me to organize a two-week
tour to Iceland starting on
May 21, and the more trav-
ellers, the better price for
everyone,” Walter says. Non-
refundable deposits have to
be made before the middle
of February. For further in-
formation contact Walter
Sopher at (780) 481-3502 or
snorri@iceIandic-goods.com.
Maddin at NSI FiimExchange
Icelandic-Canadian film-
maker Guy Maddin’s short film
Sissy Boy Slap Party will be on
the program at the 2005 NSI
FilmExchange Film Festival.
The annual festival show-
casing Canadian film takes
place in Winnipeg March 2-5.
The cast of Sissy Boy Slap
Party includes John K. Samson,
frontman for the Weakerthans,
and filmmaker Caelum Vatns-
dal, both of Icelandic descent.
Maddin’s film will be
shown as part of a program
Thursday, March 3 at 1:30 p.m.
at Screen 3, Globe Cinema,
Portage Place. Tickets are $7
from Ticketmaster.
Visit us on the web at http://www.lh-inc.ca