The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1973, Page 72

70
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
SUMMER 1973
Just to show how warm things can
get up in that northern region, a com-
plete new island rose from the ocean
off the south coast of Iceland in 1963.
Its arrival was accompanied toy a
magnificent fanfare of flame and
smoke. A woman who witnessed this
unusual birth was in Calgary a short
time ago.
“I was in a boat when we heard the
noise and saw 'the flames shooting up
into the sky as this mass of black rock
slowly emerged from the sea,” said
Mrs. Andres Bjornsson. “We called the
island Surtsey”.
“Scientists now have a wonderful
opportunity to study how new life
starts”, added her husband. “In fact,
all of Iceland is considered a real gem
by geologists.”
Mr. Bjornsson is director general
of Icelandic State Radio and Tele-
vision Broadcasting Services. He was
speaking at the university Wednesday
in the course of a lecture tour of Can-
ada and his topic was the modern hi-
storical novel in Iceland.
He has a university degree in liter-
ature and was brought to this coun-
try by the Icelandic National League
of Canada.
Iceland is considered the most liter-
ary country in the western world.
According to Art Reykdal, one of
our compositors whose parents came
from Iceland, “everybody in Iceland
is a writer.” There are five newspapers
in Reykjavik.
“This is our first visit to America,”
smiled Mrs. Bjornsson, a tall attrac-
tive blond. “We started our tour in
Winnipeg and go on to Vancouver
from here. We’ll be away from home
three weeks altogether.”
Her voice was soft but clear and
her accent reminiscent of Norway. Al-
though her English was very good,
there were times when she looked to
LIFRARPYLSA
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