Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.05.2017, Blaðsíða 46

Books 46The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 08 — 2017
RVK In NYC
Icelandic literature is growing in the US
Words: Björn Halldórsson Portrait: Kristín Ósk Ingvarsdóttir
This month, a new collection of
Icelandic short fiction entitled
‘Out of the Blue’ was published
by the University of Minnesota
Press. The collection gathers to-
gether short stories in transla-
tion by twenty modern Icelandic
authors, with a foreword by Sjón.
An event was held at Scandinavia
House in New York to celebrate the
publication, with four of the writ-
ers reading their stories before be-
ing interviewed by Helen Mitsios,
the collection's editor, as well as
taking questions from the crowd.
The book is the first of its
kind in English, but for Helen the
pressures of composing a collec-
tion to represent a nation's cul-
ture is a part of the process. “My
entire education and academic
career has been devoted to lit-
erature,” she explains, “so put-
ting together the anthology was
an organic experience; a natural
progression that was quite joyful
because of the excellent stories.”
Helen is on familiar
ground in these mat-
ters as she has previous
experience introduc-
ing foreign figures into
the American literary
landscape. “When I in-
troduced Haruki Mu-
rakami and Banana Yo-
shimoto to the Western
reader in my first Japa-
nese anthology many
years ago,” she says,
“an American reader didn't know
much beyond Mishima, Tanizaki,
or Kawabata, because the Japa-
nese undervalued their own con-
temporary authors at that time.
Of course, this perspective has
changed since then.” She has high
hopes for how this new collection
will be received. “I think American
readers, who might not know any
Icelandic writers, will be surprised
by international scope and vibe of
the stories," she says. "Most, if not
all, of the writers are particularly
well-read and well-travelled folks.”
Her infatuation with Iceland
started with a trip in the 1980s
that has led to many more since;
she will appear at Gunnarshús, the
residence of the Icelandic Writ-
ers’ Union, alongside local poet
Didda this September. The main
difference she sees in the country
since her first visit is that there
are more trees and SUVs, but it’s
plainly visible to her, as an outsid-
er, that the Icelandic language and
culture must be safeguarded if
they are to survive in the new mil-
lennium. “The future of Iceland's
cultural identity will be linked to
how much the Icelandic language
is nudged out of the way by English
speakers,” she remarks, “whether
it's in terms of tourists, people
moving to the island, the use of
English in technology and so on.”
This viewpoint was echoed by
the visiting authors at the Scandi-
navia House event, which featured
a lively discussion about the risk
of Icelandic becoming extinct due
to the increased use
of English online,
especially among
young people. At
the same time, the
authors expressed
their excitement
and eagerness for
the future of Icelan-
dic fiction, pointing
towards the new
generations of im-
migrants who have
settled in the country in the last few
decades, who’ll presumably begin
to produce their own unique take
on Icelandic-language fiction.
Get Your Read On
Oddný Eir & Þórbergur Þórðarson
Words: Björn Halldórsson
Each issue, we take a look at
two Icelandic titles old and new,
available in English translation
at most Reykjavík bookstores. If
you’d like more ideas, or to read
more on Icelandic literature, head
over to gpv.is/lit for in-depth au-
thor interviews, guides, and more
book reviews.
Oddný Eir Ævarsdóttir –
Land of Love and Ruins
“I've got to create a home of my
own. Probably alone.” With this
in mind, the narrator of this
epistolary novel begins a journey
that leads her across Iceland and
Europe in search of a balance of
privacy and intimacy that she can
call home—between a contained
and satisfied self and the societal
and emotional pressures of a shar-
ing one’s life with other people.
Taking the form of a diary, this
book exists on the Venn diagram
overlap of autobiography and fic-
tion. Oddný Eir has remarked that
she was spurred into writing by
Heidegger's comment that lan-
guage is the house of being and
the home that humans dwell in.
What follows is an ecological ex-
ploration of language, place, and
love, passed on with a rakish sense
of style and fun.
Þórbergur Þórðarson –
The Stones Speak
While Laxness remains widely
available in English it is perhaps
a testament to the quirkiness of
Þórbergur Þórðarson—one of
the most prominent and prolific
twentieth century Icelandic writ-
ers—that his English translations
have fallen to the wayside, being ei-
ther out of print or priced absurdly
high on Amazon. I would urge you
to use your visit to Iceland to pick
up The Stones Speak, a transla-
tion in paperback published by lo-
cal publisher Forlagið. This is the
first book in Þórbergur's bulk of
autobiographical writings dealing
with his formative years growing
up on a farm on the southern coast
of Iceland at the brink of the twen-
tieth century. Þórbergur's love for
his natural surroundings and daily
life on the farm is captured in ob-
sessive detail with a humorous and
at times absurdist essayistic style,
and the communicative authorial
presence found in all his writing.
gpv.is/lit
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"American
readers will
be surprised
by the scope
and vibe of
the stories."