Ask the Author: Sverrir Sigurdsson
Answered Questions (3)
Sverrir Sigurdsson
I have friends who want to write their memoirs but don't know where to start. My advice is to start with writing down memorable events. Once you have a number of "episodes" written down, you'll see which aspect of your life is most important to you. This will become your focus, or theme, and every chapter will be a building block for this theme.
This was what I did while writing Viking Voyager: An Icelandic Memoir. Once it was clear that I wanted to focus on my modern-day Viking career, a storyline appeared. The episodes about my grandparents, my growing up in Iceland etc. became part of this coming-of-age narrative.
This was what I did while writing Viking Voyager: An Icelandic Memoir. Once it was clear that I wanted to focus on my modern-day Viking career, a storyline appeared. The episodes about my grandparents, my growing up in Iceland etc. became part of this coming-of-age narrative.
Sverrir Sigurdsson
I’ve translated Viking Voyager into Icelandic and now looking for a publisher. My native language ability was a bit rusty, since I left home sixty years ago. But the more I worked on it, the more it felt like an old friend. With the help of an editor, it’s now as ready as it can be.
I believe there’s an audience for Viking Voyager in my homeland. Icelanders like to read about their history and culture and also the overseas exploits of fellow Icelanders. My book contains both. For a nation as small as Iceland (population 360,000), it’s important to actively record our stories or else be forgotten.
I believe there’s an audience for Viking Voyager in my homeland. Icelanders like to read about their history and culture and also the overseas exploits of fellow Icelanders. My book contains both. For a nation as small as Iceland (population 360,000), it’s important to actively record our stories or else be forgotten.
Sverrir Sigurdsson
I love telling stories of my international adventures. My friends encouraged me to write them down. So I did and saved them as “episodes” on my computer, kind of like dumping photos in a shoebox. Then I showed some pages to my wife, Veronica Li, who’s a published author. She read them and was surprised to discover what an interesting guy I was. She helped me put my episodes into a memoir called Viking Voyager: An Icelandic Memoir.
We wanted to make it a human interest story that appeals to a wide audience. At the time of our writing, Iceland was a tourist hot spot. (2 million tourists in 2019!) The literature on Iceland, however, was mostly travel guides. We decided I could tell tourists about my country by introducing them to my family, our way of life, and the road we’ve traveled to be where we are today.
We wanted to make it a human interest story that appeals to a wide audience. At the time of our writing, Iceland was a tourist hot spot. (2 million tourists in 2019!) The literature on Iceland, however, was mostly travel guides. We decided I could tell tourists about my country by introducing them to my family, our way of life, and the road we’ve traveled to be where we are today.
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