Milli mála - 2020, Síða 206

206 Milli mála 12/2020
MULTILINGUAL WRITING IN ICELAND

10.33112/millimala.12.7
Besides the focus on the authors’ countries of origin in this example,
it is noteworthy that Cova, whose work is discussed in more detail
later in the article, is originally from Venezuela, not Colombia.
Interestingly, in articles published in English-speaking media in
Iceland, the countries of origin and length of stay of the members of
Ós Pressan were not mentioned and discussed. Still, the focus of the
articles published in English-speaking newspapers was on the struc-
ture of Ós Pressan and on multilingual publishing. Ós Pressan is not
being discussed as a part of Icelandic literature.
The contrast between national and international reception of the
new writing collective can be exemplified by an in-depth interview
by Clarise Foster with Ós member in CV2 – The Canadian Journal
of Poetry and Critical Writing48 in their special edition on Icelandic
- Canadian poets and writing. The interview questions range from
delving into the history of Ós and its founders to covering the diver-
sity of the group and its democratic practices. In one question, Foster
asks about “the degree of marginalization from the established liter-
ary scene”49 foreign-born authors experience in Iceland. Foster then
probes deeper in the following question about the established literary
scene in Iceland and its role in marginalizing some authors.
Later, the interview turns to Ós’ model of governance and select-
ing pieces for publication. There, the question asks how “the differ-
ences in cultural orientations/experiences come together”50 to form a
functioning governance group for Ós. The interview also includes
questions on Ós’ “‘literary’ mandate” and publication criteria51. Im-
portantly, the journal printed the answers from Ós and its members
in full, meaning that the diversity of voices that is Ós was preserved
as much as possible.
A similar willingness to engage with Ós’ critique of Icelandic
publishing traditions can be seen in an article on Icelandic literature
and language from 2018. Published in Airbnb Magazine, the article
focuses on Icelandic fears of language loss and on language preserva-
48 Foster, Clarise, “An Interview with Ós Pressan Collective Members: a rawlings, Randy Stebbins,
Anna Valdís Kró, Beatriz Portugal, Ewa Marcinek, Virginia Gillard and Elena Ilkova”. CV2: The
Canadian Journal of Poetry and Critical Writing, 40/2017, pp. 21–35.
49 Ibid, p. 25.
50 Ibid, p. 33.
51 Ibid, p. 32.