Iceland review - 2012, Qupperneq 20

18 ICELAND REVIEW
CAPITAL OF LETTERS
Reykjavík is the fifth city in the world to earn the title UNESCO City of Literature,
joining the ranks of Edinburgh in Scotland, Melbourne in Australia, Iowa City in the
U.S. and Dublin in Ireland. Reykjavík is thus the first non-native English-speaking
city to receive the honor. We were curious, and so we asked Chair of the Icelandic Book
Publishers Association Kristján B. Jónasson how that happened.
It was Oddný Sturludóttir, city councilor for the Social
Democrats, who got the ball rolling, supported by people
whom she’d met while working on establishing Edinburgh
as UNESCO City of Literature. The idea gained foothold
and all parties of interest—city council members, authors
and publishers—were keen to strengthen the consciousness of lit-
erature and literacy.
“The status isn’t permanent in that we will maintain it forever;
UNESCO evaluates whether the city is worthy of it in creating a
proper culture of literature within its limits, for example with pro-
grams to encourage reading, improve the public’s access to libraries
and related matters.
“Reykjavík has now become part of UNESCO’s global network,
‘Creative Cities,’ where certain aspects are emphasized, such as the
music, visual art, cuisine and of course the literature scene of each
location and thus must contribute to the maintenance and develop-
ment of the creative industries.
“The UNESCO City of Literature status is not for export but
rather one that aims to strengthen Reykjavík’s self image and raise
awareness of the rich culture of literature that exists in the city.
The ancient Icelandic manuscripts are, for example, kept in the
city, almost all publishing houses in Iceland are located there, most
Icelandic authors live in Reykjavík, the city is home to most of the
country’s bookstores and it hosts various literature festivals.
“By highlighting and connecting all of this, a new consciousness,
a new self image, is created, one that concerns culture and literature.
It’s something Icelanders often mention as being part of their iden-
tity but visitors don’t necessarily see it that way or aren't necessarily
familiar with Icelandic literature at all.
By Páll StEfánSSon translated By Eygló Svala arnarSdóttir Photo By gEir ólafSSon
“People may think it strange to think that around 1985 there
were only a handful of Icelandic books available in foreign lan-
guages but now there are more with Arnaldur [Indriðason], yrsa
[Sigurðardóttir] and Auður Ava [Ólafsdóttir] leading the way. Now
we have good and efficient authors for export.”
But are we a literate nation—do we read?
“First I want to mention the UNESCO City of Literature
projects most visible at the moment: inscriptions on sidewalks and
around the city—as well as at Keflavík Airport—with quotes from
books in Icelandic and English for foreign visitors. We are also
working with children, inviting foreign authors to Reykjavík and
organizing a book fair that will be held in City Hall in November.
“Now, to answer your question: Icelanders, along with
Norwegians and Finns, read and buy the most books per capita.
The attitude of Icelanders towards books is regularly surveyed and
it has turned out that more than 80 percent of respondents read
books for leisure. Seventy percent of Icelanders say they buy at least
one book per year. On average, Icelanders buy eight to nine books
per year, judging by the number of copies sold.
“This year, 1,500 book titles will be published in Iceland, which
is amazing, of course. We have a very strong tradition for giving
friends and family books at Christmas, a good, old tradition. The
Icelandic book market has an annual turnover of 7.5 billion [ISK;
USD 60 million, EUR 47 million]—an incredible achievement for
a market of only 320,000 people.”
And, Kristján, what are you reading right now?
“Poetry inspires me. Now, I’m reading the poetry collection of
Stefán Hörður grímsson.” 
“our culture is the most valuable of all our resources.”
Mayor of Reykjavík Jón Gnarr.
“the City of reykjavík boasts foremost an outstanding
literary history with its invaluable heritage of ancient medieval
literature, the sagas, the edda and the Íslendingabók,
Libellus Islandorum (Book of Icelanders).”
UNESCO’s official letter of nomination.