Sjón, a visionary Icelandic novelist
There is much more to modern Icelandic writing than detectives and crime scenes
Carolyne Larrington April 27 2011
"The best-known representatives of modern Icelandic writing are undoubtedly Arnaldur Indriðason and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, the creators of two popular detective heroes, Erlendur of the Reykjavik police force, and þóra Guðmundsdóttir, a stubborn and inquisitive lawyer. Both Arnaldur and Yrsa are taking their novels in different directions; Arnaldur’s hero has gone on an extended holiday, leaving his colleagues to solve two difficult cases, while Yrsa’s latest novel has abandoned the feisty þóra for a terrifying exploration of the supernatural in contemporary north-west Iceland. There is much more to modern Icelandic writing than these two authors however; and following the country’s new international visibility, on account of its volcanoes and its errant bankers, even writers who cannot be accommodated within the Scandinavian crime genre are finding translators.
Sjón (Sigurjón B. Sigurðsson) is among the most interesting contemporary Icelandic authors. Writing under his childhood nickname, a contraction of his first name which literally means “sight” or “vision”, he is a poet and lyricist (in 2000, he was nominated for an Oscar for a Björk song he co-wrote for Lars von Trier’s film Dancer in the Dark) whose early fiction was full of surrealist imagery and complex explorations of myth. The legend of the golem is explored in Augu þín sáu mig (translated as Made in Secret, 1994) while Argóarflísin (The Whispering Muse, 2005) tells of a retired Icelander sailing to Norway on a Danish cargo ship in 1949. Among the crew is a man who recalls how he sailed with Jason and the Argonauts to seek the Golden Fleece. Stálnótt (Steel Night, 1987) has affinities with cyberpunk, while Engill, pípuhattur og jarðarber (Angel, Top-hat and Strawberry, 1989) is a more straightforward story about alternative worlds..."continued
Sjón (Sigurjón B. Sigurðsson) is among the most interesting contemporary Icelandic authors. Writing under his childhood nickname, a contraction of his first name which literally means “sight” or “vision”, he is a poet and lyricist (in 2000, he was nominated for an Oscar for a Björk song he co-wrote for Lars von Trier’s film Dancer in the Dark) whose early fiction was full of surrealist imagery and complex explorations of myth. The legend of the golem is explored in Augu þín sáu mig (translated as Made in Secret, 1994) while Argóarflísin (The Whispering Muse, 2005) tells of a retired Icelander sailing to Norway on a Danish cargo ship in 1949. Among the crew is a man who recalls how he sailed with Jason and the Argonauts to seek the Golden Fleece. Stálnótt (Steel Night, 1987) has affinities with cyberpunk, while Engill, pípuhattur og jarðarber (Angel, Top-hat and Strawberry, 1989) is a more straightforward story about alternative worlds..."continued