Reykjavík Grapevine - jan 2020, Qupperneq 32

32The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 01— 2020
Readin% Too
Much Into
The Icelandic
Literary Prize
Nominees
... and who we think will win
Words: Valur Grettisson Photo: Adobe Stock
The Icelandic Book Prize winners
will be announced in late January.
It’s that time of the year, when
writers and scholars fight to the
death—in the poetic sense, of
course. Yes, the nominees for the
Icelandic Book Prize have been
announced, including 15 authors
in three categories, who will now
compete for the prestigious hon-
our and a one million ISK cash
price.
The Reykjavík Grapevine parsed
the nominees to predict what is
likely to win and determine what
we think actually should win.
The poetry possibility
First off, when looking at the Ice-
landic literary scene this year, one
quickly notices one important
detail: There have never been as
many poetry books published in
Iceland.
That said, there is only one po-
etry book nominated on the list in
the Novel category, which is ‘Dim-
mumót’ by Steinunn Sigur!ardót-
tir, a veteran writer who also won
the prize in 1995 with her novel
‘Hjartasta!ur’ ('Where the Heart
Is') She is a strong contestant and
could win again as a representa-
tive of the poetry scene, although
the statistics are not on her side
when it comes to an author win-
ning the award more than once.
Only two writers have achieved
that feat since 1989.
Bragi could win...
But there are notable heavyweight
champions in the Novel category.
Bragi Ólafsson has a book in the
race called ‘Sta!a pundsins’ ('Sta-
tus of the Pound'). The book is, like
most of Bragi’s novels, a little bit
incoherent and slow, but brilliant
in its own unique style. Bragi is
very well respected, but has never
won the prize. Our money is on
him.
That said, our heart is with
Berg"óra Snæbjörnsdóttir. She is
relatively new in the scene, hav-
ing released her first poetry book
last year, ‘Flóridaljó!in’ (‘Florida-
Poems’), which was nominated but
didn’t win. Her new book, a novel
called ‘Svínshöfu!’ (‘Pig's Head’),
is a unique tale of immigrants ex-
periencing the harshness of Ice-
landic culture and weather.
But hold on
There are two more writers in
the race, both brilliant. First off,
Gu!rún Eva Mínervudóttir is
nominated for her short story col-
lection ‘A!fer!ir til "ess a! lifa af’
(‘Methods of sur-
viving’). Gu!rún
Eva is just other-
worldly when it
comes to writing,
having gone from
magical realism
to just odd real-
ism. She’s one
of those writers
that makes you
feel like you’ve
been touched by
something special.
As well, Sölvi Björn Sigur!sson
is nominated for his novel ‘Selta —
Apókr#fa úr ævi landlæknis’ (I feel
truly sorry for the brave soul who
will try to translate this title, but
the first word would be ‘Salinity’
if that helps). Both of these writers
are incredibly capable, but to be
blunt, the buzz is not there. That
said, anything could happen.
The first immigrant to
win?
What’s really enjoyable about the
book prize is that it has a special
category for children’s books. Five
writers are nominated in the cat-
egory, one of whom, Hildur Knúts-
dóttir, has won the prize before.
She is now nominated for her
young adult novel ‘Nornin’ (‘The
Witch’).
The buzz, however, is around
Lani Yamamoto’s book, ‘Egill spá-
ma!ur’ (‘Egill The Prophet’). Lani’s
nomination is unique in the sense
that she doesn’t speak Icelandic,
or, at least, not in interviews. So
if she wins, she will be the first
immigrant to claim the prize. Our
money, as well as our heart, is with
Lani, and it’s truly refreshing to
have a voice like hers in the race.
The nightmare group
Now to the heavy stuff: Five writ-
ers are nominated in the non-
fiction category. In this group, we
have a former member of parlia-
ment, Ólína Kjerúlf $orvar!ardót-
tir, who wrote about the history of
ancient medicine in Iceland. We
also have a veteran cultural jour-
nalist and director, Páll Baldvin
Baldvinsson, who wrote about Ice-
land’s history of fishing herring.
Icelanders are suckers for fish, as
you probably know, so we'd put our
money on this book.
That said, there has been a lot
of buzz about the biography of the
legendary writer Jakobína Sig-
ur!ardóttir, which was written by
her own daughter, Sigrí!ur Kristín
$orgrímsdóttir.
I f we had to
choose between two
nominations and flip
a coin for it, we would
say Jakobína or the
herring history.
Well, there you
have it, all of the nom-
inations. The award
ceremony will be held
at the presidential
residence Bessasta!ir
at the end of January. We don’t take
bets, but if you win some small for-
tune based on our insights, please
donate 10% of the winnings to the
Grapevine. If you lose, please don’t
mention our part in it.
Winner, winner, literary dinner
Books
“Icelanders are
suckers for fish,
as you probably
know, so we'd
put our money
on this book.”
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