Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.10.2018, Síða 4

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4 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • October 15 2018
Ljósanótt, an evening
of lights, is fast
approaching. Join us
on the evening of Friday,
November 9, 2018, as we
honour the legion of dedicated
individuals who have helped
maintain Icelandic culture in
North America through their
untiring support of Lögberg-
Heimskringla – past presidents,
past directors, former
editors, and one of our senior
subscription sponsors. This
evening promises to be a grand
celebration with many of the
leading lights of the Icelandic
community in attendance.
This year’s Ljósanótt will
be held at the Holiday Inn
South, 1330 Pembina Highway,
in Winnipeg. Tickets for the
dinner are $90, which includes
a $35 tax receipt. And if you
“party too hard,” or simply
want to stay for the night,
rooms are available at the hotel.
Gudlite Entertainent will
provide music for the evening
and the dance floor will be ready
to receive happy feet. As we
approach the 60th anniversary
of the amalgamation of the
Heimskringla and Lögberg,
not to mention the 100th
anniversary of the Icelandic
National League of North
America, we’re in a mood to
celebrate.
Sponsorships are still
available for as little as $250,
which offers a splendid way
to promote your business or
simply show your dedication to
the Icelandic community. And,
depending on the level, your
sponsorship comes with tickets
to the event and a charitable
receipt for a portion of your
contribution.
The deadline to purchase
tickets is November 2, but don’t
delay – you don’t want to miss
out! For tickets, information
about sponsorship, or other
details, please contact the
Lögberg-Heimskringla office
at (204) 284-5686 or toll-free at
1-866-564-2374.
I’ve long believed that the
Icelandic love of letters can
be traced back to our Celtic
foremothers who helped to
settle Iceland in the 9th and 10th
centuries. It seems likely to me
that their presence helps explain
why Icelanders were writing
books while their Norwegian
cousins were still carving runes.
Today, Iceland and Ireland
are both noteworthy for the
prodigious amount of literature
produced in each country.
Last month, author
Caitríona Lally was presented
with the prestigious Rooney
Prize for Irish Literature by
the Oscar Wilde Centre at
Trinity College in Dublin.
Named in honour of former
U.S. ambassador to Ireland and
Pittsburgh Steelers president
Dan Rooney, this coveted
prize is awarded annually to
an Irish writer under 40 who
has demonstrated exceptional
promise. Lally squeezed in just
under the chronological wire,
being three months shy of 40.
What makes her win
especially remarkable is the
fact that Caitríona Lally works
at Trinity College as a janitor,
a position she has held for
three and a half years. In the
early hours of the morning, she
cleans offices, lecture halls,
and one of the college’s elegant
libraries – expressing relief that
her current assignment doesn’t
include any washrooms.
A graduate of Trinity
College herself, Lally’s
employment history reads a bit
like a classic English major’s
joke. She worked as an English
teacher in Japan for a year,
travelled a bit after that, and
then held various jobs, from
housekeeper to copy editor.
In 2011, after being laid off
during that year’s recession,
she found herself unemployed
for an extended period and
that is when the idea for her
novel, Eggshells, first came
to her. According to her own
description, “Eggshells is
about a socially isolated misfit
who walks around Dublin
searching for patterns and
meaning in graffiti or magical-
sounding place names or
small doors that could lead to
another world.”
After countless rejections,
she found a job as a data entry
clerk and, in her spare time,
wrote her novel. The rejections
while seeking employment
proved to be invaluable training
for the flood of rejections she
received in securing a publisher
for the book, but she persisted
and Eggshells appeared in
print in 2015, the same year
she found herself out of work
again. So she returned to work
as a college janitor.
As it happens, her work fits
well with her responsibilities
as the mother of a fourteen-
month-old daughter, and its
very routineness and physical
nature means that she’s not too
intellectually and emotionally
drained to write when her paid
employment is done for the
day. Her story reminds me of
the farmers and carpenters,
day labourers and homemakers
among the Icelanders on both
sides of the ocean who have
devoted themselves to writing.
Far from being an oddity,
hardworking people with pens
seem to be a commonplace
among Icelanders. Maybe
that’s the source of their
literary power – as everyday
people, they have something
powerful to say about everyday
experience. That’s how great
literature begins.
Stefan’s Saga
Stefan Jonasson
Editor
Lögberg-
Heimskringla
Published 24 times a year by
Lögberg-Heimskringla, Incorporated
Heimskringla stofnað 9. september 1886
Lögberg stofnað 14. janúar 1888
Sameinuð 1959
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RECEPTION: EXTENSION 101
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Office Hours:
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CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER
Audrey Juve Kwasnica
204.284.5686 Ext. 106 • audrey@lh-inc.ca
EDITOR
Stefan Jonasson
204.284.5686 Ext. 102 • stefan@lh-inc.ca
PRODUCTION MANAGER /
LAYOUT and DESIGN EDITOR
Catherine McConnell
204.284.5686 Ext. 103 • catherine@lh-inc.ca
ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE /
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Jodi Dunlop
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VOLUNTEER ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS
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support of the Government of Iceland.
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addresses to: 835 Marion Street
Winnipeg MB R2J 0K6
Archived issues spanning 1886-2005
may be viewed at www.timarit.is
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FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS
First 200 words and a picture
are free of charge
over 200 and pic $25.00
300 words and pic $50.00
400 words and pic $75.00
500 words and pic $100.00
750 word maximum and pic $150.00
Send to catherine@lh-inc.ca
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT: J. Peter Johnson
TREASURER: Dan Snidal
SECRETARY: Alicyn Goodman
BOARD MEMBERS
Margaret Amirault
Gunnvör Daniélsdóttir
Asmundsson
Shawn Bjornsson
Claire Eckley
Bruce Eyford
Erna Pomrenke
Judith Richardson
Robbie Rousseau
Oskar Sigvaldason
CANADA
Karen Botting Winnipeg MB
Joel Friðfinnsson Geysir MB
Stuart Houston Saskatoon SK
Signý McInnis Arborg MB
Paul Park Ottawa ON
USA
Shirley J. Olgeirson Bismarck ND
Rob Olason Bellingham WA
Steingrimur Steinolfson Bloomington MN
ICELAND
Kent Björnsson Reykjavík Ísland
NEWS CONTRIBUTORS
Working people with pens
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L-H DEADLINES
EDITORIAL SUBMISSION
DEADLINES FOR
NOVEMBER 1, ISSUE 21
Monday October 15
FINAL EDITORIAL DEADLINE –
BREAKING NEWS ONLY
Friday October 19
Please advise the editor in advance if you are
sending a submission for the final deadline
FINAL ADVERTISING DEADLINE
Monday October 22
NOVEMBER 15, ISSUE 22
Monday October 22
FINAL EDITORIAL DEADLINE –
BREAKING NEWS ONLY
Friday November 2
Please advise the editor in advance if you are
sending a submission for the final deadline
FINAL ADVERTISING DEADLINE
Monday November 5
Wouldn’t your amma and afi be proud?
THE ICELANDIC NATIONAL LEAGUE OF NORTH AMERICA
Tel: (204) 642 5897
Email: inl@mts.net www.inlofna.org
Are you proud of your Icelandic Heritage?
Do you want to see it preserved for your children and grandchildren?
Are you a member of your local Icelandic Club?
Don’t know where they are or who to contact?
Visit our website for more information or contact our INL office.
If you don’t have a club in your area but are interested in
forming one, please call the INL office.
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Ljósanótt is fast approaching
Join us on November 9th for an evening of lights
Alicyn Goodman
Winnipeg, MB