News
Laxness in Arabic
Interest in Icelandic literature is growing in the Arab World.
First it was Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (the translation rights to her novel Þriðja táknið/Last Rituals were recently bought by Arabesque Publishing Press), and now Nobel Laureate Halldór Laxness will be made available in Arabic. Negotiations have taken place between Forlagið and the Lebanese publisher Arab Scientific to publish and distribute Brekkukotsannáll /The Fish Can Sing throughout the Middle East, marking his first entry into the literary world of the region.
No further deals have been made to publish other works by Laxness, but Forlagið is optimistic about future translations of his novels into Arabic. In the first instance 2000 copies of the novel will be distributed, but more copies will be published if the first printing is successful. Arab Scientific is also considering other Icelandic authors for publication in the Middle East.
And so continues Laxness‘ journey throughout the world. Translation of his work began when Gunnar Gunnarsson translated Salka Valka into Danish in 1934. Today his novels have been made available in over 500 publications and translated into more than forty languages.
Photo courtesy of Gljúfrasteinn: Painting by Einar Hákonarson, 1984 (Morgunblaðið).