Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.12.2019, Page 30

30The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 21— 2019Culture
Making of an artist
Writer Einar Már Gu!mundsson
has been publishing books for nearly
forty years. He wrote the critically
acclaimed novel ‘Angels of the Uni-
verse,’ as well as the screenplay for
that movie. His work has been trans-
lated into over 20 languages. He has
always seen his writing as a form of
social engagement, because, as he
says, “sometimes the society needs
your voice, and sometimes it’s best
to be quiet.” Here, he gives us insight
into what made him the author he is
today.
The spark that started
it all
Since I was a boy, I was a storyteller
and a talking poet, so I think it was
very good for the people around me
that I started doing it alone. I found
rather early in life the need to ex-
press myself. These were tough
times in the late 60s and early 70s.
As Bob Dylan says, “there was mu-
sic in the cafés at night, and revo-
lution in the air,” so I could say that
this revolution in the air inspired
me a lot.
In my teenage years, I read a lot.
In the beginning, it was very much
with a social engagement. I was en-
gaged in left wing politics. The or-
ganisation I belonged to had an an-
archo-socialistic character. Many
of the progressive artists were
among this movement. But later
I began to look for other things
besides social engagement. I was
always looking for new answers,
so poetry and writing became all
mixed together. Telling stories,
finding some meaning with all the
things around us.
The storytelling gene
At the beginning of the 20th centu-
ry, my father was born in Reykjavík
to a very poor family. He had ten
siblings, and because of this pov-
erty, the family dissolved and went
to farms mainly in the south of the
country. Very few of
them got a formal
education, but they
had a lot of wisdom
inside. So my father
became a taxi driver.
My mother was from
a more middle-class
f a m i l y , h a v i n g
grown up here in
Reykjavík. She had
this love for stories
and poetry. I remember some of
the stories I heard; I used them lat-
er in my novels.
For example, one of my uncles
went to fight in the Spanish Civil
War, and when he came back, he
was also a taxi driver. And he was
always telling stories. The taxi
drivers had this dispatch central
where people would call for a taxi,
and sometimes because my uncle
was telling such good stories, they
didn’t want to take the orders, they
wanted him to finish the story. He
was brilliant.
Poets, teachers, and
authors
One of my teachers was the poet
Sigfús Da!ason. When I was seri-
ously beginning to read poetry, I
found his books at the library, and
they spoke directly to me. Later he
would be my teacher at the uni-
versity, and we became very good
friends, and he also was very fond
of my writing from the beginning.
Of course, other modern Icelan-
dic poets who belong to this gen-
eration (born between 1910-1930)
influenced me. I lost myself in this
world of poetry, and it's still, in a
way, my foundation.
I also found inspiration in
American authors such as William
Carlos Williams and Richard Brau-
tigan. Brautigan was somebody
who spoke directly to me. I could
also mention Kurt Vonnegut. And
then I began to read some authors
translated into Ice-
landic, like Sinclair
Lewis, John Stein-
beck, and William
Faulkner.
And then in Ice-
land, we had Halldór
Laxness. He was all
around. Later, I be-
gan to study all his
books. He was like
a whole academy to
me and my writing. I could learn
almost anything from him. There
are others. #órbergur #ór!arson is
a bit older than Laxness. He wrote
what you call autofiction. He was
somebody, like Laxness, that spoke
very much to the time in which I
grew up.

Music In The
Cafes At Ni#ht,
Revolution In The Air
Writin! is Einar Már Gu#mundsson’s politics
Words: Sam O'Donnel Photo: Art Bicnick
Einar Már in the historical home of the Reykjavík artist, Ka% Mokka.
“I lost myself
in this world of
poetry, and it's
still, in a way,
my founda-
tion.”
Senior citizen musical
concert - 5 Dec
Styrktartónleikar Elvars Geirs
HAM Skálmöld,
Sólstafir ofl - 6 Dec
Tom Waits concert - 7 Dec
Jólablús !oll"ar - 11 Dec
Ebba Sig stand-up - 12 Dec
The Vintage Caravan
concert - Dec 13
Da#i Freyr Christmas
concert - 14 Dec
DJ Tveir Fullir - 21 Dec
Klúbbakvöld - 27 Dec
Brain Police concert - 28 Dec
Whats happening
at HardRock?