The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.1988, Síða 7

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
5
EDITORIAL
by Kristjana Gunnars
Managing Editor
The Manitoba spring arrives with resist-
ance. Cold winds and nightly frosts hang
on. Children still wear mittens. People
huddle half chilled at bus stops. There is a
sense of expectation in the air. The city of
Winnipeg is abuzz with politics for elec-
tions are looming. Reporters with notepads
are polling passers by on sidewalks and in
cafes.
As I sit down to write this editorial I
sense the strong enigma that overhangs the
province. This is my last issue on the board
of The Icelandic Canadian. I am saying
good bye to Winnipeg, my home for many
years now, from where I have observed the
culture and society of West Icelanders
across Canada and the American Midwest.
It is hard to make pronouncements
about West Iceland because it is a shifting
phenomenon. Lodged in a plethora of
mainstream and ethnic cultures all compet-
ing for definition, the West Icelandic group
is constantly changing. Newcomers make
their presence felt and old faces disappear.
East Icelanders arrive, contribute, and go
away again. Nothing stays the same.
Yet we know West Iceland is strong and
very much alive. The Icelandic culture in
North America defines the lives and
thoughts of thousands of us. It is a group
with its own history and its own language
now. The people in this issue testify to the
dynamic nature of the Icelandic culture as
it goes on outside of the island of its origins.
The Icelandic Canadian Magazine is
here to chart the growth and development
of the West Icelandic culture, all across
North America. There is much to be learned
and much to contribute. Every voice counts.
Every experience, every life story, every
attempt at spoken Icelandic, no matter
how fluent or broken, is of special signifi-
cance.
It has been a pleasure to work with
West Icelanders everywhere. Each issue is
a learning experience for an editor. I have
had an opportunity to visit with many of
our contributors and to learn their stories.
One thing has become clear to me: it takes
a long time to understand what West Ice-
land is all about.
This issue is a people issue. As managing
editor this time around, I have chosen to
include articles on various personalities.
Each one has important contributions to
make; their stories and activities can help
us understand ourselves. Above all, know-
ing more about each other will strengthen
the bond that keeps us together as a group,
however scattered. The better we know
each other, the more we know about our-
selves.
I urge our readers to send us more mate-
rial: with this issue I hope to show some of
what we are looking for. Essays, inter-
views, fiction, poetry, scholarly articles
and book reviews are more than welcome.
They are needed, because otherwise we
cannot know what our true subject is.
To all of you in West Iceland, we on the
board wish you the finest of summers.
— Winnipeg, April, 1988