The Icelandic connection - 01.12.2020, Síða 6

148
ICELANDIC CONNECTION
Vol. 71 #4
Editorial
The History of the Editorship of
Icelandic Connection. And its Future.
by Elin Thordarson
For a small literary magazine that’s
been in continuous publication since
the Second World War, approaching
eighty years, the editorship of Icelandic
Connection sure doesn’t change hands
that often. A testament, I think, to the
magazine’s inherent importance and
fundamental value; its significance and
relevance to its readership, to its board
and to its editor.
Icelandic Connection began its
publication in 1942 under the name
The Icelandic Canadian. At its helm was
the esteemed writer Laura Goodman
Salverson, author of The Viking Heart
(1923) and by the time The Icelandic
Ca?iadian began its publication she was
already a two time Governor General
Award winner for her novels Dark
Weaver (1937) and The Confessions of an
Immigrant's Daughter (1940).
In Volume 1, Number 2 she submits
for permanent record the vision that
herself and the rest of the editorial staff
and business management had for The
Icelandic Canadian in 5 points.
To assist in making the things of value
in our Icelandic heritage a living part of
ourselves as Canadian citizens and thus
improve the quality of our contribution to
the distinctively Canadian pattern.
To provide an instrument by which
the children of the ever increasing mixed
marriages may be reached\ and through
which we seek to instill in them a better
knowledge and a keener appreciation of our
heritage.
To provide a means where Canadians
of Icelandic extraction, pure or mixed, can
become better acquainted with each other and
thus strengthen the common bond of the past
which in itself will strengthen the common
bond of the future in the larger Canadian
scene.
To stimulate greater effort by making
known to our readers the contributions of
Icelandic Canadians to the highest and best
type of citizenship.
To place before the people of Canada
and particularly the other ethnic groups, our
interpretation of the position we should take
as Canadian citizens, and thus contribute
to Canadian unity by helping to form a
common basis of approach.
Salverson’s editorship, as impressive
as it is to have a prestigious literary award
winner at the helm of a new publication,
was unfortunately not very long lasting
and she was shortly replaced by the
Honourable Judge Walter Jacobson