Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.08.2014, Blaðsíða 14

14
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 11 — 2014
Gerður, tell us a little bit about
your residency at the Interna-
tional Writing Program. How
long will you be staying in Iowa
City, and what will you spe-
cifically be doing while you’re
there?
I will be staying there for 10 weeks
from the end of August until the be-
ginning of November. There will be
lectures to attend, but I will also give
readings, meet my colleagues from all
over the world, and of course write. I
have heard that 30–35 authors are in-
vited every autumn, and I am eager to
find out if I know any of them already.
I was in Finland in June where I met
a local writer who was invited to the
programme last year. He told me a lit-
tle bit about his stay, and it all sounded
very exciting. We get to travel a little
bit, and I am sure it will be great.

Have you ever visited the Unit-
ed States before? How do you
feel about living in a place like
Iowa City, which is very differ-
ent, both culturally and geo-
graphically, from Iceland?
I find it very interesting. The organis-
ers choose writers who haven’t lived
before in the States. I have visited New
York, Washington D.C., Boston and
Baltimore, but all these trips were only
for a few days. I consider this a won-
derful opportunity to get to know the
United States better.
How did this opportunity come
about?
Paul Cunningham, the public affairs
officer at the American Embassy in
Iceland, contacted me and asked if he
could send my CV to the International
Writing Program to see if I would get
an invitation. Of course I said yes. I
already knew about this programme
because I once read a short story by
the Icelandic author Birgir Sigurðs-
son about his stay there, and two years
ago I met a German poet at a festival
in Indonesia who had been there in
1984 and actually met his Indian wife
there, who is also a poet. The German
poet was one of the organisers of the
Indonesian festival, and he invited a
Zimbabwean colleague who he had
also met during his stay in Iowa. This
seems definitely to be a place where
people make good connections.
What do you hope to accomplish
personally and professionally dur-
ing your time in America? How are
you preparing for this journey?
I am sure it will broaden my mind
meeting new people and hearing about
their work. I am also looking forward
to getting some time to concentrate on
my own writing. I have already made
up my mind what I will be working on.
It is a novel that I have already started.
Otherwise I am not going to do any
preparations. The rest will come as a
surprise.
Will we be seeing more English
translations of your works in
the future? Do you view this op-
portunity as a way of promoting
not only your work but also Ice-
landic literature as a whole to
the rest of the world?
I hope there will be more English
translations of my work. So far ‘Blood-
hoof’ is the only book that has been
published in English, and it came as a
surprise since Icelandic poetry books
are hardly ever published in other
languages. These
days I am finish-
ing my sixth book
of poetry. It would
of course be lovely
if it were published
in English. Over
the last few years, I
have travelled a lot.
I have, among other
countries, read my
works in India, Ban-
gladesh, Columbia,
Nicaragua, Finland, England and Po-
land. I have met a lot of people who
seem interested in Icelandic literature.
They often know the sagas, the crime
writers and a handful of novelists.
They want to tell me about why they
love these writers or get to know more
about them. I am of course eager to an-
swer their questions since I like noth-
ing more than talking about literature.
What book(s) are you reading
right now?
The last book I read was a poetry book
by the Finnish poet Tua Forsström,
who I met for the first time at a festival
in China three years back. I bumped
into her again in June this year since
we were both invited to a poetry festi-
val in her home country. She is a great
poet and a wonderful person. The
next novel I am going to read is Donna
Tartt’s ‘The Goldfinch.’ I have heard it
is worth reading.
You actively promote your po-
ems and novels at book fairs all
across the world. Recount one
of the funniest/strangest expe-
riences you’ve had while travel-
ling abroad.
At the end of May, I was invited to the
Salisbury festival in England. An hour
before the show I was told that I would
not be reading with other fellow poets
as I am used to. Instead I would have
an hour on my own at a local theatre.
I would read for 45 minutes and then
answer questions about the Icelandic
sagas for 15 minutes. I had a friend
with me, Gabby Meadows, who works
for Poet in the City in London. By co-
incidence she had brought the English
translation of ‘Skírnismál’ (“Skirnir’s
Journey” in English) with her. We
decided that I would talk about my-
self, the Eddic poetry and ‘Skírnismál’
before she read the translation. After
that I would read a part of ‘Blóðhóf-
nir’ in Icelandic and
then Rory McTurk’s
English translation.
This went very well.
The audience asked
me some interesting
questions and before
we knew an hour had
passed. I suddenly
realised that in high
school I once only
got a B in Icelandic
instead of an A, and
that was in the course where we read
the Eddic poetry and Njáls saga. Now I
travel around the world telling people
about this very same literature and
people are buying tickets to listen to
me. I found it rather funny and ironic.
Aside from this opportunity,
you have received a lot of rec-
ognition for your work, includ-
ing an Icelandic Literary Prize
and a nomination for the Nor-
dic Council’s Literature Prize.
Where do you go from here?
What’s next for Gerður Krist-
ný?
My next poetry book will be published
in October. It is a crime poem that I
have been writing for couple of years
now. It will be interesting to see where
it will take me. That is what I am fo-
cusing on right now.
Come August, Gerður Kristný, one of Iceland’s most celebrated contemporary authors,
will be leaving the desolate, volcanic landscapes of Iceland for the vast cornfields of
Iowa in order to participate in the prestigious International Writing Program at the
University of Iowa. This unique ten-week residency programme brings together a di-
verse group of accomplished writers and poets from around the world for a chance
to network, write, collaborate, lecture, and discuss current trends in world literature.
This opportunity marks an exciting new chapter in Gerður ś career, especially as her
global reputation and commercial success continue to grow. We spoke to Gerður be-
fore her departure to learn more about her upcoming journey.
Author Gerður Kristný was named
International Writer-in-Residence at
the University of Iowa
Words by Elliott Brandsma
Photo by Alisa Kalyanova
Society | Writer
Gerður Goes
To Iowa
Gerður
Kristný
Gerður Kristný currently stands as
one of Iceland’s most prominent and
prolific writers, having published a
total of seventeen books, including
two novels, a short story collection,
nine children’s books and five vol-
umes of poetry. She is the recipient
of the Icelandic Journalism Award,
the Icelandic Children’s Choice
Book Prize, the Halldór Laxness
Literary Award, the West-Nordic
Children’s Literature Prize, and the
Icelandic Literary Prize. Her book-
length poem ‘Blóðhófnir’ was nomi-
nated for the Nordic Council’s Lit-
erature Prize in 2010. Her play, "The
Dancing at Bessastaðir," was per-
formed at the National Theatre of
Iceland in 2011. She studied French
and comparative literature at the
University of Iceland and worked as
the editor of the Icelandic magazine
Mannlíf from 1998 to 2004. She was
born and raised in Reykjavík, where
she still lives and works with her
husband and two sons.
“So far ‘Bloodhoof’ is
the only book that has
been published in Eng-
lish, and it came as a
surprise since Icelandic
poetry books are hardly
ever published in other
languages.”