Reykjavík Grapevine - jan 2021, Qupperneq 26

Reading Too Much Into The Icelandic
Book Prize Nominees
Who will win, who will lose? Here are our predictions
Words: Valur Grettisson Photo: Art Bicnick
In Iceland, you can be sure that two
things happen every year in Janu-
ary: bad weather and the Icelandic
Book Prize. 2021 is no different,
although this iteration of the con-
test did start with a bang. Earlier
in the awards cycle, the Icelandic
Publishers Association posted an
ad online looking for “passionate
book-lovers” to be in the panels
for the book prizes. The result was
a surprise 280 applications from
bibliophiles across the country. Al-
though you can find some familiar
names on the list, there are also a
plethora of new and unexpected
judges so, in some ways, the book
prize has never been as egalitarian
as it is now.
But we are here to talk about the
books, not the politics—predict-
ing the winners (and snubs) of the
Icelandic Book Prize is an annual
Grapevine parlour game—the sole
purpose of which is to let you in
on what’s new in literature these
days. That said, only one of these
books has been translated to Eng-
lish.
So, here are the contestants
for the Icelandic Book Prize, who
we will think will win and who
we think should win. Just keep
in mind that last year, we didn’t
predict a single winner correctly,
so just assume we’re full of it. In
fact, if you’re an author, maybe you
should hope we don’t choose you.
Fiction
Critics have said that this wasn’t a
particularly lively Christmas book
season, but 2020 did bring us some
pretty strong fiction. The buzziest
buzz was around Ólafur Jóhann
Ólafsson’s ‘Snerting’—‘One Sta-
tion Away’ is available in English
translation—which was the most
sold book this year at the biggest
Icelandic bookstores—no small
feat considering that 2020 saw a
popular release by the Icelandic
crime king himself, Arnaldur In-
driðason. Anyway, it seems to be
the general consensus that ‘Snert-
ing’ is not only well-written, but
powerful in a quiet way. That said,
it might be a little too quiet for
some readers, but Ólafur Jóhann
is no doubt a frontrunner here.
In 2006, he received the prize for
his short story collection ‘Aldin-
garðurinn’ (‘Valentines’) so this
could be his moment to win the
big award.
‘Snerting’ would be a no-contest
winner if it wasn’t for the widely-
loved and adored Auður Ava Ólaf-
sdóttir, who is nominated for her
novel ‘Dýralíf’ (‘Life Of Animals’).
Auður kind of snuck through the
backdoor of the world of Icelandic
literature. She is wildly famous in
France and was nominated for the
Nordic Council Book Prize in 2009
for her novel ‘Afleggjarinn’ (‘The
Greenhouse’). But she wasn’t nom-
inated for the Icelandic Book Prize
that year. Her sales in Iceland were
actually quite low compared to her
acclaim abroad, which perhaps ex-
plains her absence from the list,
but the snub was still a scandal.
Auður didn’t really find fame here
in Iceland until she won the Nor-
dic Council Book Prize in 2016 for
her book ‘Ör’ (‘Hotel Silence’), for
which she was also awarded the
Icelandic Book Prize that year. She
could easily take it again this year.
But there is another option—a
larger-than-life bohemian genius
who could also grab the gold. Elís-
abet Jökulsdóttir, Iceland’s fusion
of Bukowski and Sylvia Plath, is
nominated for the book ‘Apríl-
sólkuldi’ (which is not a word eas-
ily translated, but means ‘April,
Sun, Cold’). Elísabet had a rough
upbringing; alcoholism was a big
part of her life, which she writes
about in this merciless reflection
of her own existence. Elísabet is
my favourite to win, although
others in the office are torned be-
tween her and Auður Ava.
That said, there is a rule though
when looking at literature in Ice-
land and that is never underes-
timate the up-and-coming writ-
ers. Jónas Reynir Gunnarsson
as well as Arndís Þórarinsdót-
tir are two young and incredibly
talented nominées. Jónas Reynir
has a serious contribution with his
novel ‘Dauði Skógar’ (‘Death Of A
Forest’) and is a name you should
memorise. He could definitely take
the awards unexpectedly—deserv-
ingly so. Arndís, meanwhile, is
the poet of the year. Every year,
there is always one at the Icelandic
Book Prize and unfortunately, they
never win, which always raises the
question if there should be a spe-
cific category for poets.
Children's Books
Icelanders understand that the
only way to make a book-loving
person is to grab them while
they're young, so the children’s
book category is both good and
very ambitious every year. Our
favorite is of course Lóa Hjálm-
týsdóttir, which our readers know
very well through her fantastic
comics that have graced the pages
of our magazine for many years.
Her book, ‘Grísafjörður’ (‘The
Fjord Of Piglets’) has Lóa’s char-
acteristic warm sense of humour
as well as her fantastic artwork.
Call it nepotism, but we favour
her when it comes to the best
children’s book of the year. And
hey—it’s Iceland. When has a little
nepotism ever hurt anyone?
Other nominees are Hildur
Knútsdóttir for her young adult
novel ‘Skógurinn’ (‘The Forest’).
She won in 2016 and the panel
tends to choose new writers rather
than awarding already decorated
authors, so she’s not our top pre-
diction. The crime queen herself,
Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, is also nomi-
nated for her book, ‘Herra Bóbó,
Amelía og Ættbrókin’, which is
an interesting side project to her
normal mystery novels. Other
books are ‘Blokkin á heimsenda’
by Arndís Þórarinsdóttir—nomi-
nated above for her poetry collec-
tion—which she wrote with Hul-
da Sigrún Bjarnadóttir. There’s
also ‘Dulstafir - Dóttir hafsins’ a
young adult adventure written by
another new writer, Kristín Björg
Sigurvinsdóttir. And as we said
earlier, never underestimate them.
Non-Fiction
Honestly, we won’t go as in-depth
into the non-fiction category. It’d
be an article in itself and unfor-
tunately, these books tend to be
not translated into English for
some reason. That said, our fa-
vourite is ‘Fuglinn sem gat ekki
flogið’ or in English, ‘The Bird
That Couldn’t Fly’ by Gísli Páls-
son. The book delves into the his-
tory of the wonderful, weird great
auk, which went extinct around
1900. The book does have a twist
though—as much as a non-fiction
book can—when it shifts its focus
to the extinction of animals in Ice-
land in the face of global warming.
But who do we think is going to
win? ‘Konur sem kjósa - aldar-
saga’ or ‘Women That Vote’ by Erla
Hulda Halldórsdóttir, Kristín
Svava Tómasdóttir, Ragnheiður
Kristjánsdóttir and Þorgerður
H. Þorvaldsdóttir. This work is a
culmination of years of academic
research on the struggle for gender
equality for over a hundred years.
It also takes a look at the political
and cultural sides of gender stud-
ies in Iceland.
So those are our predictions!
Take them or leave them, but always
remember that we’ve never pre-
dicted correctly. Not even once.
26The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 01— 2021Books
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