News
A leg up for emerging talent
The goal of the Icelandic Literature Fund's New Voices Grant is to support interesting literature which – despite its being of artistic merit – has little hope of financial success. At a ceremony held in the Living Arts Museum in Reykjavík, Þorgerður Agla Ingólfsdóttir, director of the Literature Fund, and Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Minister of Culture and Education, presented five recipients with a grant of ISK 200,000 (roughly €1,200) each. This year's grantees, who were chosen from a group of 39 applicants, are Ásgeir H. Ingólfsson, Bjargey Ólafsdóttir, Hildur Margrétardóttir, Jón Bjarki Magnússon and the magazine Furðusögur / StrangeTales.
Ásgeir H. Ingólfsson is the editor of culture-webzine Kistan and has contributed as a journalist to various culture-related publications. His first poetry book, Grimm ævintýri / Grim Fairy Tales, is due to be published later this year. Artist Bjargey Ólafsdóttir has worked in a variety of media, including visual art, drawings, film, photography, and lately writing. She is currently completing a collection of short stories and drawings. Jón Bjarki Magnússon is a journalist, but has also been heavily involved with the poetry co-operative Nýhil. He is now working on his first book of poetry. Hildur Margrétardóttir has primarily worked as a visual artist, but is now completing a novel for young adults, which juggles realism with the mythological realm of Icelandic folk tales. The magazine Furðusögurwill feature fantastic literature of all kinds, as well as art and comics on the same theme. The people behind the magazine, who will also contribute original material to it, are Alexander Dan Vilhjálmsson, Ólafur Sindri Ólafsson and Hildur Knútsdóttir.
Samples from the recipients' work can be found at fict.is, a website supported by Sagenhaftes Island and dedicated to emerging and alternate literature. It contains short profiles of noteworthy young authors and poets, and excerpts from their work, ranging from short stories to photographic poems. The website also contains unconventional works by more established writers, such as poetry collages by Óttar Martin Norðfjörð and a video poem by Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl. Excerpts from novels by young authors Sölvi Björn Sigurðsson and Þórdís Björnsdóttir can also be read on the site.