Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.07.2018, Blaðsíða 42

42The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 16— 2018
Marshallhúsið, Grandagarður 20, 101 Reykjavík.
Bus route 14 (Listabraut)
To reserve brunch, lunch and dinner call +354 519 7766,
or info@marshallrestaurant.is, marshallrestaurant.is
Marshall Restaurant + Bar hosts SOE KITCHEN 101,
a temporary culinary project by chef Victoría Elíasdóttir,
artist Ólafur Elíasson, and the SOE Kitchen team.
Book
Partus Gives
Birth Abroad
The Icelandic publisher goes international
Words: Elijah Petzold Photo: Martin Diegelman
Since its inception in 2015, Par-
tus Press has kept a finger on
the pulse of the Icelandic literary
scene, providing a platform for the
newest generation of authors to
showcase their work on a national
scale. Beginning with the elegant,
hand-bound chapbooks of the
Meðgönguljóð series, Partus has
continued to increase the scope
of their output, releasing several
full-length books of poetry, essays
and fiction over the last three years.
Now, with the recent publication
of their first book in English, it’s
clear that founder and director
Valgerður Þóroddsdóttir has no
intention of restricting her ambi-
tion along national boundaries.
Waitress in fall
Published in July in collabora-
tion with the English poetry
powerhouse Carcanet, ‘Waitress
in Fall’ anthologizes the verse of
Kristín Ómarsdóttir in English
translation for the first time. As
the book’s translator, Valgerður
(who publishes in England under
the name Vala Thorodds), deftly
renders the lucid and often erotic
lyricism of Kristín’s poetry into
unpretentious, yet dignified Eng-
lish idiom, producing a volume that
exhibits the poet’s unique subjec-
tivity and, simultaneously, ges-
tures towards universal impulses.
The book, Vala explains, arose
largely in response to the general
dearth of contemporary Icelandic
poetry available in translation.
Although Iceland boasts a robust
poetry scene, and although many
of Iceland’s established poets have
been able to participate in a global
arena, very few poets have had the
opportunity to anchor their inter-
national distinction in a tangible
book object. “You may spend de-
cades being active as a poet – travel-
ing, reading at events and festivals
– and never get translated,” says
Vala. “It’s important to have some-
thing in your hands to show people.”
Max Laxness
Vala doesn’t only have the authors’
benefit in mind; there’s a demon-
strated curiosity amongst tourists
in Iceland about the country’s con-
temporary literature. But, given the
relative lack of avail-
able translations,
Vala says, “book-
stores just keep
pushing Laxness.”
With five more Eng-
lish translations
slated for release in
the next year—two
novels, a book of po-
etry, and a graphic
novel—Vala hopes
that Partus can be-
gin to fill that void.
Partus’ trans-
lingual endeavors, however, are
not a one-way street. Nor are they
even a two-way street: 2016 saw
Partus publications of Icelandic
translations from Spanish, Ancient
Greek, and Latin. Their most re-
cent release, ‘Hefnd grasflatarin-
nar’ is a translation of American
author Richard Brautigan’s short
story collection ‘Revenge of the
Lawn.’ “Icelanders have this weird
relationship with English,” Vala
lets on. “They’re quite confident
in their English abilities, but it's
mainly a conversational proficien-
cy, it comes from watching shows
and movies, not from reading.”
Icelandic connection
Vala herself occupies a unique space
in between the languages. Born
in Iceland, she grew up in upstate
New York, speaking both English
and Icelandic. This double native
proficiency allows her to capture
the colloquial nuance of the origi-
nal Icelandic in equally nuanced
English. Although she has no in-
terest policing who gets to trans-
late Icelandic, she points out that
a non-native speaker might miss
many of the intricacies charac-
teristic of lyric expression. Few, if
any, with this claim to two mother
tongues have stepped up to the task
of translating poetry. “So,” she says,
“It’s like—maybe I have to do this.”
‘Waitress in Fall,’ readily avail-
able in bookstores throughout the
U.K., is only the first of Partus’
international undertakings. Vala,
who currently lives in Oxford, has
been establishing a foothold in the
English poetry world, even as she
tends to Partus’ operations in Ice-
land. After issuing books in the
original Icelandic and in transla-
tion into and from the Icelandic,
she has her sights
set on yet another
category of books—
those published in
the original Eng-
lish. Although she
is not yet certain
what those books
will be, she feels
no need for them
to exhibit some ex-
plicit, tangible con-
nection to Iceland.
In question is the
broader identity of
Partus as an international press.
“I wonder,” she asks incredulous-
ly, “Am I not allowed to publish
in English unless there’s some
Icelandic connection? Is that a
question people are going to ask?”
Catalysing collabs
But, given Partus’ status as one
of the most exciting and visible
literary publishers in Iceland, it’s
entirely warranted when Vala sug-
gests that the press itself, with its
established aesthetic and tenor, is
as valid a tie to Iceland as any overt
link. This flexibility and breadth of
vision, it seems, it precisely how
Partus can continue to extend its
potential, catalysing literary col-
laboration and exchange across
borders and languages.
gpv.is/lit
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Vala Þóroddsdóttir, warming up to translate, possibly
“Icelanders have
this weird re-
lationship with
English. They’re
quite confident…
but it comes
from watching
shows, not from
reading.”