Reykjavík Grapevine - feb. 2022, Blaðsíða 27

27The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 02— 2022

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27The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 02— 2022
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Iceland; a burdensome hurdle for
the coming generations.
“It could be a little encumber-
ing, people were either writing
‘in Laxness’s shadow’ or despis-
ing him like Gu"bergur Bergsson
did. For me, both stances were
wrong,” Hallgrímur admits. “Like
some overtly stupid troll child,
I went straight for the holiest
shrine. My first published text was
a lampoon version of 19th Century
Jónas Hallgrímsson’s ‘Fer"alok’,
considered to be the most beauti-
ful poem written in Icelandic. And
this also got approved! This time
around approval came from the
most serious poet in the country,
Sigfús Da"ason, which meant a lot
to me, of course. So I was off to a
good start, but what followed were
15 years of wandering outside the
literary establishment until I felt
accepted. But all this time I was
totally drunk with the language,
the Sagas, Jónas Hallgrímsson,
Laxness… Icelandic was like a
siren, I was drawn to it.”
Rough journey
The road to becoming a profes-
sional author was not a smooth
one for Hallgrímur. It wasn’t until
after he published his fourth novel
that he became an accepted figure,
and tapped into the Icelandic writ-
ers’ subsidy system. He felt like his
books didn’t fit into the general
vibe when it came to Icelandic
fiction. It’s hard to realise why
today, but his playful and often
humorously careless writing was
provocative within the traditional
literary atmosphere of the time.
But, as is often the case when it
comes to Iceland, Hallgrímur’s
recognition ultimately came from
abroad. He was nominated for the
Nordic Council Prize for his widely
known book, 101 Reykjavík, a hilar-
iously playful fusion of Hamlet
and a side plot of a French movie,
Hallgrímur saw once. The novel
captures the unique atmosphere
of Reykjavík’s famous central
district, 101.
It felt like a call to arms for a new
generation. Finally, a voice that
young people could relate to, and—
perhaps more importantly—a
voice that broke something impor-
tant within the holiness of Icelan-
dic literature.
Modern settings
knocking on the door
But what’s next for this heavily
awarded author who has capti-
vated the hearts of Icelandic read-
ers? Hallgrímur obviously needs
to finish his Sixty Kilo books, but
then what?
“Well, truth to be told, the pres-
ent is calling to me. It’s such a wild
time and there is a modern fiction
knocking on the door, a story that
might happen in Reykjavík. I’m
still waiting to get to the age of
writing these small meaningful
novels like a proper elite member
of Icelandic culture, but I’m just
not there yet. First, I have to finish
the story of ‘Segulfjör"ur’ [The
world of the Sixty Kilo books].”
He adds that he sometimes
feels like he’s losing touch with
the modern world. “It feels like a
complicated reality that people are
facing today, and then add TikTok
and Snapchat to it. I’m just trying
to keep up with the times before
it’s too late,” he says.
“Since I finished recording
the “Sextíu kíló af kjaftshöggum”
audiobook, I have been busy paint-
ing. I’m working on a series of
self-portraits, if you can say so, for
they are not traditional portraits
of the artist’s face, but rather his
manifold character. I break myself
up and paint all the elements I can
find in my soul, using improvisa-
tion and working totally subcon-
sciously, unprepared that is.
“I’m very excited about this
idea. Most of the works are titled
‘Sixfold Self-portraits’, sometimes
even ‘Sevenfold’. They show six or
seven different figures, all parts
of myself, my soul as a rock band:
One might be a flashy guy fishing
for attention, another the intro-
vert reading guy, yet another a
girl in a fancy dress, or a grinning
gossipmonger, a clownish kite or
a frustrated painter gnashing his
teeth.
“I put all those paintings on
Instagram, on my visual artist
account, @hallgrimur.artist, and
lately some of them have gone viral
in the USA, much to my surprise,
like the one with ‘the Ghost of
Laxness’. So maybe it means that I
have finally managed to bridge the
canyon that opened up for me in
New York City back in the 80s!”
There is a bit of truth in that,
but at the same time, Hallgrímur
has proven many times to be a
writer that doesn’t always follow
the traditional path. And there is
nothing traditional about these
modern times.
You can find a longer interview
with Hallgrímur on our homepage
grapevine.is
This man has worn the same hat for 20 years