ROSIE-ON-THE-ROAD by Rosie Goldsmith: What’s Happening in Icelandic Literature? Report from Reykjavik, Iceland
The 40th Reykjavik International Literary Festival (Bókmenntahátíð í Reykjavík / The Reykjavik International Literary Festival ) took place this spring from April 23rd-27th 2025. Rosie was invited to attend as event moderator, as well as in her capacity of director of the European Literature Network, publisher and editor of The Riveter magazine and artistic director of the European Writers’ Festival in the UK. It was Rosie’s 3rd time participating in the festival, in a country she has grown to love, Iceland. Here are a few of her impressions and photos (photo of Stella Soffía Jóhannesdóttir with Rosie in main image).
Close Encounters of the personal kind PART 1: THE AUTHORS.
Gosh, where do I begin? Ofcourse a literary festival has to have authors (!) but Reykjavik’s 40th Book Festival was bursting at the seams with stars from Iceland and across the world. Obviously I’m first flagging my own very close and precious interview encounters with Irish writer Claire Keegan and Finnish writer Pajtim Statovci but also my ‘close encounters’ with Nobel Literature Prize winner Abdulrazar Gurnah, Hernon Diaz, Anne Carson, Dincer Gücyeter, Erika Fatland and Satu Ramo and, from Iceland, Einar Lovedahl, Brynja Hjálmsdóttir, Ragnar Jonasson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir, Meg Matich, Jón Kalman Stefánsson, Andri Snær Magnason and Hallgrimur Helgason, Halldór Guðmundsson. Catching up briefly with former First Lady of Iceland, Eliza Reid (can’t wait to read her novel Death of a Diplomat), and with Sjon, a constant in my love of Icelandic literature.
Close Encounters of the personal kind PART 2: The LANDSCAPE.
My visit to Iceland and its superb book festival would not have been complete without a (short, sadly) trek out to see the country that has inspired such profound feelings and creativity in its people and in all of us. Unforgettable sights of active volcanoes, glaciers and snow-splattered mountains, the most beautiful rainbows in the world, of the lava land (black and red lava), the gushing geysers, the magnificent Golden Waterfall, as well as the wall-high ‘gap’ in the famous tectonic plates, with the original Icelandic parliament in the background. Give me a month here in Iceland (or two or three – please!) and I would paint the best paintings of my life and write the novel I have always wanted to write….
Close Encounters of the personal kind PART 3: The TRANSLATORS.
Iceland’s authors are special (cf. Part 1) and so are the translators – from and into Icelandic. It’s a ‘small’ language but has inspired some very great translators and they are revered here. Each time I visit I understand the sagas, the uniqueness of the Icelandic language and its culture a little better. The President of Iceland (just imagine!) held a prize-giving reception at the official residence for this year’s Translation Prize winners, Kim Lembek and Tatjana Latinović, and there were translators everywhere throughout the whole festival – at the events, moderating the events and attending a parallel symposium of translators of the work of Iceland’s great storyteller Sjon. Sjon was the very first Icelandic writer I ever interviewed and read (in translation by Vicky Cribb): I owe him so much.
And finally, PART 4 of my personal encounters of the closest kind: The BOOKS and The PUBLISHERS.
Iceland’s books are beautifully published by a small tight network of excellent publishers and, together with a delightful and impressive group of foreign publishers, I was treated to some valuable insights into the publishing scene, and visits to some of Iceland’s publishing houses. The festival’s artistic director is a publisher and literary agent herself, the great Stella Soffía Jóhannesdóttir: to her and her team many thanks for another outstanding encounter of the close kind with Icelanders and their literature.
Finally, at Reykjavik airport on the way home, I was bowled over to see – more prominently and proudly displayed than the usual commercial airport blockbusters – so many of the books by Icelandic authors I know and love on sale. I would (should?) have bought them all!
Rosie Goldsmith
Main image: Stella Soffía Jóhannesdóttir with Rosie Goldsmith
Rosie Goldsmith is Director and Founder of the European Literature Network and Editor-in-Chief of The Riveter. She was a BBC broadcaster for twenty years and is today an arts journalist and presenter. She was chair of the judges for the EBRD Literature Prize 2018–2020.
Read previous posts in Rosie-on-the-Road series:
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