Literature of Iceland

Audur Jonsdottir takes a leisurely stroll along Laugavegur, Reykjavik's most famous street, which is lined with designer stores, cafes and tourist shops. In contrast, rusted, boxy cars and chunky SUV's drive down the one-lane street - many of them blaring music from their open windows.

It's author Jonsdottir's favorite place to be in Iceland's capital city.

"I always run into a lot of people here, especially on the weekend. We have a coffee together or walk along the Laugavegur," he said. And with only 320,000 residents in Iceland, it's not hard to bump into acquaintances.

"Every time I come here, I hear new stories about people's lives that inspire me," the writer noted.

The village of Iceland

Born in 1973, Jonsdottir's debut novel "Stjornlaus Lukka" ("Bliss"), published in 1998, was nominated for the Icelandic Literature Prize in the same year. A playwright and children's book author, she is one of the country's most famous and popular writers, having won a range of awards, including the Icelandic Literature Prize in 2004 for "Folkio i kjallaranum" ("The People in the Basement"). The author also happens to be the granddaughter of Nobel Prize-winning author Halldor Laxness, about whom she has also written.

Jonsdottir's latest novel, "Vetrarsol" ("Wintersun"), is the first to be published in German - on occasion of Iceland being honory guest at the Frankfurt Book Fair, which runs from Wednesday, October 12 to the 16th. The German title "Jenseits des Meeres liegt die ganze Welt" (literally, "Beyond the Ocean Lies the Entire World") is perhaps an apt description for Iceland in general.

"When I transpose global problems onto this small island, as I do in this book, they become wonderfully absurd," she pointed out. "Our country is like a village, and international topics turn a bit strange here."

In hardly any other country in the world are so many books written and bought in relation to the number of inhabitants as in Iceland. According to the Icelandic Writers' Association, the country has some 400 authors and 40 publishing companies. That amounts to a dense concentration given the small number of residents.

Yet the island nation's literary wealth remained isolated for a long time, said literature scholar and publisher Kristjan Jonasson.

"Icelandic literature was rarely brought up in dialogue on European literature, not even within a Scandinavian literary context," he said.

Located some 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) from continental Europe, Iceland developed its own literary world. It wasn't until the 1980s that Icelandic publishers began trying to export their own literature, and they began to brainstorm about what set certain Icelandic works apart.

"It turned out to be the novels that really focused on the story, the narrative, itself - ones which expressed a delight in story-telling and which had a magical touch," Jonasson said.

Sagas, nature-infused stories and urban novels

Up until the mid-20th century, Iceland was one of Europe's poorest countries, but from the start, it has had a lush literary history.

Iceland's 13th-century sagas are unsurpassed. Many contemporary Icelandic authors continue to draw on this rich tradition, such as Einar Karason, whose work has been translated into a number of languages, including English with 1990's "Devil's Island." Karason's novel "Ofsi" draws on the Sturlunga Saga, a collection of Icelandic sagas revolving around the Sturlunger family clan. The book received the Icelandic Literature Award in 2008.

But Icelandic literature is composed of more than just the sagas. Gyrdir Eliasson, whose surrealistic book "Gangandi ikorni" ("The Wandering Squirrel") catapulted him into the limelight, writes short stories and novels focusing on nature that are playful and poetic. He received the Nordic Council Literature Prize this year.

Then there are the snotty urban books of the 1990s, with Hallgrimur Helgason's "101 Reykjavik" paving the way with his tale about a young man sarcastically describing his disaffected, aimless life in the city.

A broad spectrum

In other words, Icelandic literature is diverse, tapping into all sorts of genres. The country's writers are extremely productive, Jonsdottir said, but are less prone to thinking in stereotypes or pigeon-holing.

"We don't have those clear demarcations," she pointed out, saying, "Many authors write poetry, children's books and novels - often mixing and playing around with the styles, too."

That experimentation lends freshness to the texts, she said.

Readers can see that in Audur Jonsdottir's "Vetrarsol" ("Wintersun") as well. Her novel is many things at once: a critique of society, a thriller and a search for identity. Maybe it's the isolated location of the country that makes this self-assured approach to literature and writing possible. Far removed from the international literature scene, Icelandic writers can concentrate on developing their own style. But many also get by thanks to help from a friend: the Icelandic government offers a monthly stipend to qualifying resident writers who apply for it.

Author: Nadine Wojcik / als
Editor: Greg Wiser