Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.12.2009, Page 20

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You might not have heard of it, but Ice-
land has a yearly flood. It’s not like the
monsoon where the streets are overrun
with water and mud. No, this is a differ-
ent kind of f lood, namely the so-called
Christmas-Book Flood. Well. It doesn’t
necessarily translate well, but in Icelan-
dic the term is “Jólabókaflóð,” and it is a
yearly sign that Christmas is coming in
Iceland. Unlike in most countries, the
bulk of the nation’s literary output is pub-
lished in the two or three months leading
up to Christmas.
Iceland has just over 300.000 habi-
tants. And in this year, there are around
700 titles published in Icelandic, which
is among the most we have ever seen.
The titles include poetry, children’s
books, novels, translations, non-fiction
etc. I know this because of a nifty little
catalogue called Bókatíðindi. It would
roughly translate as The Journal of
Books. It comes out every November and
lists damn near every book “officially”
published in Icelandic. It is delivered
to each and every home in the country,
and for many it is a sign that Christmas
is officially upon us. And for Icelanders,
Christmas is the time where you snuggle
up and read your presents.
IT aLL DaTes BaCK To WorLD
War II
But why does every Icelandic publish-
ing house deem it sensible to release its
yearly output in the two or three months
that every other publishing house re-
leases theirs? The tradition dates back to
World War II, where strict currency re-
strictions were imposed, so there wasn’t
a lot of imported giftware. And Iceland-
ers had quite a lot of money to spend in
those days due to the economic upheaval
during the war. The restrictions on im-
ported paper were more lenient than on
other products, so the book emerged as
the Christmas present of choice. And
Icelanders have honoured the tradition
ever since.
The Icelandic Christmas-book mar-
ket is mainly a gift market. People tend
to buy hardcover books for their friends
and relatives, but purchase cheaper pa-
perbacks for themselves. As a result most
books are published in hardcover before
Christmas, and then the most popular
ones come out in paperback, even as
soon as January or February.
neW PossIBILITIes In PuBLIsHIng
are emergIng
According to Guðrún Vilmundardóttir,
publisher at Bjartur, the second largest
publishing house in Iceland, the sales in
December figure a staggering sixty per-
cent of their yearly turnover. And most
are sold in the few days before Christ-
mas. But during the last few years there
have been some signs of a change in the
Icelandic publishing landscape. There
have been experiments with publishing
novels at other times of the year. And ac-
cording to Guðrún, the market has been
becoming more flexible lately. Bjartur
has begun publishing paperbacks in the
spring for summertime reading. “They
are books to take on holiday, thrillers
and lighter reads, and people have defi-
nitely started buying more paperbacks
for themselves. And last spring we pub-
lished a new Icelandic novel in paperback
(Handbók um hugarfar kúa, by Bergsve-
inn Birgisson) and that sold well. So new
possibilities in publishing are emerg-
ing.”
Egill Örn Jóhannsson, manager at
Forlagið, Iceland’s single largest publish-
ing house after JPV and Edda merged in
2007, tells a similar tale. “From the start,
we have consciously tried to increase
publication in what may be called ‘other
seasons’, i.e. not the Christmas season. It
has gone very well and now we probably
publish more than half of our titles be-
fore the so-called Christmas season be-
gins.” And for them, sales in the spring
have also been picking up. “Our bestsell-
ing summer paperbacks are sold in thou-
sands of copies, which is very good con-
sidering market’s smallness,” says Egill.
And indeed, with so few people read-
ing and speaking Icelandic, it is a very
small market. So small, in fact, that ac-
cording to Egill, many foreign publish-
ing houses think it nothing short of
miraculous that such a diverse literary
scene can be found in such a small coun-
try.
THe InevITaBLe quesTIon of THe
eConomIC CoLLaPse
But what of the meltdown? The Kreppa?
The economic collapse or whatever you
want to call it? Well, it has certainly had
an impact on the publishing industry.
As the Króna plummeted, prices on
imported goods have risen again, and
sadly, this time around it goes for paper
as well. Says Guðrún: “Last year we
didn’t raise our prices, although every-
thing had become more expensive—but
this year we are forced to raise prices
a little. But prices on books haven’t
been raised much those last few years
compared to everything else. A book is
a classic gift and very reasonably priced.
And I think we have even sensed a kind
of goodwill since last fall. People don’t
go abroad as much to buy presents. They
would rather buy Icelandic products.”
Egill answers along the same notes.
“For a very long time we have heard of the
cliché that books are an especially strong
product during recession. Now it’s been
a year since the economic collapse and
it’s clear that the book can well stand its
ground on the market. What’s important
is that publishers keep at it with confi-
dence and believe in the literary market.
If they do, I’m not worried at all. But con-
sumer behaviour seems to have changed
a bit, with fewer people buying the more
expensive books. But we publishers have
done a pretty good job at keeping prices
down during the last few years.”
THe CreePIng KrePPa
But the Kreppa has been creeping into
the literary scene by other means as well,
as a large amount of Icelandic novels
and non-fiction books are in one way or
another a spin on the situation Iceland-
ers find themselves in. There are several
non-fiction books that try to explain what
exactly led to the economic collapse in
Iceland, as well as books regarding the
pros and cons of joining the E.U. in the
wake of the meltdown, and even a book
on corruption by our saviour Eva Joly.
There are a number of poetry books
struggling to grasp the reasons for and
consequences of the Kreppa, and the
Kreppa even figures strongly in more
than a few children’s books, albeit mostly
in a metaphorical way. And the novels?
Many of them seem to be on issues such
as greed and vanity, though quite a few
of them also read like nothing drastic
has happened in the country. This may
be due to the fact that it is now almost
exactly a year since the collapse, and nov-
els do take time to write. We likely have
nowhere near exhausted the impact that
the Kreppa will have on Icelandic society,
including its literary scene.
Xmas | Books
HILDur KnÚTsDóTTIr
JuLIa sTaPLes
4The reykjavík grapevine Xmas special spectacular 2009
Issue 18
Iceland’s yearly flood of books
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are eligible for Tax Free shopping during their stay in Iceland
Remember to ask for a Tax Free form when shopping and receive
up to 15% refund of your purchases.
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The Jólabókaflóð
sIgurður KJarTan KrIsTInsson
JóI KJarTans
Grapevine’s guide to yr Ultimate Holiday Bender
It’s no secret that December is the
darkest and spookiest month. It is by far
also the booziest. The overwhelming joy
one often associates with the Christmas
frenzy increases the longing for a
nightcap, the fright that correlates with
mass expenditures in gifts and other
holiday nonsense calls for some alcohol,
and when you intend to bid farewell to
the passing year you’ll want a bottle of
liquor by your side. It seems there’s no
avoiding dipping your toes (or your
entire foot) into the tantalizing Jacuzzi
of holiday vice. You strangers: witness
Grapevine’s guide to your Icelandic
holiday drinking!
Buy earLy!
The Icelandic liquor infrastructure,
those state-run liquor stores, have short
opening hours. It gets worse over the
holidays. So make a visit to Vínbúð early.
And purchase in bulk. You’ll thank us
later.
anD so IT BegIns…
The first day of hardcore debauchery is
Þorláksmessa. The rambling begins at
noon, when families and friends gather
to fulfil their appetite with brennivín and
rotted skate, which smells so foul, you’ll
have to drown the maggoty taste with a
whole lot of Brennivín to survive. The
fun continues through the day, usually
ending in an uncontrollable frenzy at the
local bars. The funny part of all this is
that Þorláksmessa is also the day when
you finalize your Xmas shopping. This
is no match made in heaven. The only
reason bars are open on the 24th from
noon ‘til two is so unfortunates can pick
up their left-behind presents. So my
advice is: find a local and convince him
to invite you in for rotted skate. If that
doesn’t work out, find a restaurant that
serves the horrendous dish and report
for duty at the bars in the evening.
Day II of DePravITy
If you don’t recognize the holiday
“Second in Christmas,” it’s because we
made it up. To get shitfaced. Christmas
day is usually spent on family gatherings.
This lasts ‘til midnight on December
26th, when the bars remove the chains
from their doors. Be aware that the bars
are only open between midnight and 3
AM, so you’ll have to try and imbibe as
much alcohol as possible in those three
hours. In light of this, it might not come
as a surprise that the average bar sales
are usually greater in these three hours
than on a regular 8 PM-6 AM night.
After a bunch of after partying, you’ll
probably end up with your holiday booze
stash empty. But don’t worry, Vínbúð
opens up again, so you can re-stock.
THe messy fInaLe
Now we’re finally there, New Year’s
Eve. The craziest night of the year.
Supposedly. The first thing you have
to do is clear out all your expectation,
‘cause grand ones might disappoint you.
A lot of the locals tend to give the clubs
the finger on this particular night, but
they tend to be wrong. If you’re visiting
I’d recommend you’d score a ticket to
one of those New Year’s celebrations,
but if you get invited to a local party –
definitely go for it. It’s a wise move to
go up to Perlan or by Hallgrímskirkja
to watch the ludicrous fireworks and
fire up a few, you’ll be able to mingle
with crazy Icelanders that are probably
planning a 24-hour party. Whatever
you do though, don’t go to sleep. Things
won’t heat up until around 8 AM, and
if you play it right you won’t remember
anything the morning after, won’t
recognize where you are and don’t recall
what you did. And that’s the reason why
it will be, in your memory, the craziest
night of the year.
Xmas | Party
Dirty Holidaze