Milli mála - 2020, Blaðsíða 207
Milli mála 12/2020 207
ANGELA RAWLINGS, LARA W. HOFFMANN, RANDI W. STEBBINS
10.33112/millimala.12.7
tion in literature. Ós is used as a counterpoint to the dominant nar-
ratives on these two important issues by focusing on the struggle that
foreign-born writers face and how language is weaponized in that
struggle.52
A third example of international coverage that is more open to Ós
and its members voicing critiques of the Icelandic publishing sector
came from an invitation from Finland in 2018 for Ós to be part of
Multilingual Month.53 In this case, two Ós members were commis-
sioned to write a blog post about their experiences in publishing a
multilingual literary journal in Iceland. The fact that Ós Pressan was
paid for this contribution is an acknowledgement of the status of Ós
Pressan in the context of discussions about multilingualism in the
Nordic countries and the positive reception of Ós Pressan abroad. In
the post, two Ós members describe their experiences starting and
joining the group and at a Nordic multilingual conference. In the
post, they cover issues of radical inclusion, playful multilingualism,
and marginalization in literature, all without editing or comment by
the organizers of Multilingual Month.
8. Public Reception of Foreign-Origin Writers
Foreign-origin authors who immigrated to Iceland after their literary
careers were established overseas (such as angela rawlings, Elías Por-
tela, or Mazen Maarouf) have continued to situate their publishing
activities in international contexts, in part due to the limited publish-
ing opportunities available to foreign-origin authors in Iceland. There
are notable inclusions over the years–through the previously men-
tioned Listamannalaun, through invitations to participate in local
literary events, and through selective invitation to contribute to Ice-
landic literary journals Tímarít Máls og menningar and Stína. Still, the
public acknowledgement of international publishing activities by
foreign-origin authors remains limited – even when new books are
52 Griest, Stephanie Elizondo, “The Quest to Keep Iceland’s Language Alive”, airbnbmagazine, 2018,
https://medium.com/airbnbmag/the-quest-to-keep-icelands-language-alive-b22d4b6d74f2
[accessed April 30, 2020].
53 Valdis Kro, Anna, Hoffmann, Lara, “Ós Pressan”, Multilingual Month, 2019, https://multilingual-
month.org/2019/03/18/os-pressan-2/ [accessed April 28, 2020].