Writers adrift. Essays by foreign born writers in Iceland

Icelanders used to be a very efficient nation, utilizing everything that washed ashore. The ocean brought wood, jetsam, and sometimes even a beached whale (hvalreki) that could feed a whole village. In recent years, a rapidly growing group of newcomers in Iceland has enriched the country’s culture and arts. Writers and poets are hidden among those who have washed ashore. Some of them are still floating in the shallows, others have reached the shore, and still others have already joined the literary scene. These advent authors are poets ashore, fertile gifts from the deep. In this collection of essays, ten authors of foreign origin tell their stories, write about their desires and aspirations; talk about migration, finding their place in a new culture, about understanding and finding one’s voice in Icelandic, or reaching new readers in a foreign language. Here is a fresh perspective, original language, and different stories. Skin. Bones. Meat. Fat. Take what you like the most. They are yours now.