Reykjavík Grapevine


Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.08.2017, Qupperneq 29

Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.08.2017, Qupperneq 29
tory, before a new period, the period we’re in now, began]. I feel very lucky that I found a medium to present my ideas—it was poetry. The book did re- ally well, so the obvious thing for me to do was write another book of po- etry. But I did a children’s book. Which also did very well, and it proved to be the best way for the particular idea I expressed in it. I was expected to do another book for children, but instead I found the best place for the next idea would be a sci-fi dystopian novel. So the original idea can take you to different places, and not necessarily ones you expect. In facing the challenges writers deal with in getting published today, has using different types of mediums been useful? There are constant stories in the media about how fewer writers are being published, and fewer books read. There is even a decline in public literacy. How is it to be a writer today? The smartphone has stolen our attention. I remember how you wou ld see sad men standing in front of slot machines for hours. And I was even at the brink of praising that kind of devotion, to stand in front of the machine hours on end. But it wasn’t devotion, the people were mesmerised, hypnotised. And the smartphone works the same way. The Facebook and Twitter-newsfeeds are conceived in the same way as the reels of a slot machine. They keep you con- stantly occupied. Just at this moment I can see on my phone there are noti- fications—three of them! And I have to find out what they are. These activi- ties, or addictions as it were, are tak- ing up at least a third of all of our free time. Time that used to be, or could have been, spent reading or finding other means of entertainment. As an author, I have an audience making free stuff for the Zuckerbergs in the form of tweets and Facebook-statuses. The market for literature is still there but it has changed and the thriller or crime novel (without taking any- thing away from that artform), is too domi- nant. Could poets perhaps shine in this new dimension of social media, having the capacity to be short and concise? Poetry will always sur- vive. Poets are like rats; even when they aren’t visible, they are ever present—close, under- neath the surface. In the financial collapse in 2008, you could re- ally see how young un- derground poets were realizing where we were heading long before the media did. And when the curtain was drawn back, there it was: a very differ- ent narrative than had been presented in the media, and one that brought truth to light. Poetry usually does this. It’s like life and life always finds a way. 29The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 15 — 2017 “It was a street full of mud and filth next to a pond which had a foul odor. But then Tómas Guð- mundsson wrote a poem and suddenly it had meaning.” gpv.is/culture Share this online “a journey through the allegorical Divine Comedy, beginning in Paradiso (fruits & vegetables), leading to Inferno (frozen meat goods) and concluding in Purgatorio (cleaning aisle).” Varma is dedicated to maintaining Icelandic tradition in developing, designing and manufacturing quality garments and accessories from the best Icelandic wool and sheepskin shearling. Varma is available in various tourist shops around Iceland w w w .a rn ar tr .c om
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Reykjavík Grapevine

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