Andri Snær Magnason's Blog, page 10

In Reykjavík with Andri Snær Magnason

I was interviewed recently by Nathalie Handal for Words Without Borders about The City and The Writer. In this interview you will find at least one mindblowing amazing fact if you intend to travel to Reykjavík, in your body – or mind.

Here is a part of the interview:

The City and the Writer: In Reykjavik with Andri Snær Magnason

By Nathalie Handal

Special Series / Iceland 2014

If each city is like a game of chess, the day when I have learned the rules, I shall finally possess my empire, even if I shall never succeed in knowing all the cities it contains.

—Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities

Can you describe the mood of Reykjavik as you feel/see it?

Written in the first days of January—Reykjavík is a bit dark now, but if you like writing about sunrise and sunset the working hours are quite convenient, between 10 AM and 2 PM.

What is your most heartbreaking memory in this city?

If I do not mention love and death, I think of the house that my great grandfather built in the suburb I grew up in. It’s a suburb with no history but the house was kind of historic as one of the oldest houses in that area. My mother was born there and I was always very proud of being one of the few with real roots in the suburb. It was big and white with a red roof and kind of the grand center of a place full of boring 70′s style apartment buildings. My great uncle was the last owner, but his toy store went bankrupt so the bank got the house and one day it was demolished to make way for a newer building. I asked my family why nobody did anything to save the house but they kind of shrugged sadly. I think that moment made me an activist later, when important issues came up.

What is the most extraordinary detail, one that goes unnoticed by most, of the city?

Reykjavík is built on seven hills like Rome, and the inhabitants are as many as the citizens of Firenze at the time of Dante.

What writer(s) from here should we read?

I can recommend many but in English translation we have some recent good stuff by Sjón, Auður Ava Olafsdóttir, Kristín Ómarsdóttir, Gyrðir Elíasson, and of course, Halldór Laxness, our Nobel Prize laureate.

Is there a place here you return to often?

I have an office in an empty power station by the river Elliðaá. It is a salmon river and I grew up playing around it. I met my wife there when we had a summer job in the river valley.

Is there an iconic literary place we should know?

Yes, indeed. We have the original manuscripts of the Edda from the 1200s in the Arni Magnusson Institute. They are the prime source of Nordic mythology. All we know about Thor, Valhalla, Ragnarök, Gimli, and the Midgard Serpent, one of the few places on earth that preserve a full set of mythology about creation and the end and the forces and gods that rule our world. Something that inspired Borges, Tolkien, Wagner, Marvel Comics, modern dancers, philosophers, Death Metalists, vegans and pagans, nationalists, tree-huggers, Nazis, and Japanese Manga.

Are there hidden cities within this city that have intrigued or seduced you?

Yes—we have hidden cities within cities, invisible cities, unknown worlds in the suburbian sprawl around Reykjavík. Some have grown like mushrooms over the last eight years. We have street names nobody recognizes, places never mentioned in tourist guides, places with no history, no memory—nothing, we have pioneers living on land where no human has lived before, the first person in a brand new house with a trampoline in the garden that still has no flowers or trees. If I was a tourist, I would go there and jump on the trampolines during the day when the suburb is empty and everyone’s downtown working. That would be really fun.

Where does passion live here?

Read more:

News from the Blue Planet

The Story of the Blue Planet is traveling the world. The book just came out in Korea in a new edition but here is the poster for Minatura Theater in Gdansk, Poland designed by Anita Wasik. The play will premier may 17th with a new score by MÚM and directed by Erling Jóhannsson.

The premiere will coincide with the launch of the Polish edition of “The Story of the Blue Planet”, translated by Jacek Godek and published by EneDueRabe.

Here you can read everything about the project on the Miniatura website. Here you can find interviews with múm, the director, see the cast etc… In Polish, English and Icelandic.

Shortlisted for the UKLA BOOK Award and the Nordic Children’s book Award

Well there is some good news to tell. For the first – my new book – Tímakistan – the Time Casket - has been nominated to the “Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize 2014” along with Stína Stórasæng by Lani Yamamoto. This is a new prize that was first granted in 2013. The first winning book was “Karikko” by Seita Vuorela. Tímakistan is also nominated for the West Nordic Children’s book Award.

THE UKLA BOOK AWARD

And some very good news from the UK. The Story of the Blue Planet has been shortlisted for the UKLA Book Award. The UKLA Book Award 2014 is decided for by the 55 teachers from schools in Sussex. UKLA has as its sole object the advancement of education in literacy.

The shortlists have been divided into three age categories and the 2014 Shortlist is as follows:

3-6

Open Very Carefully by Nick Bromley and illustrated by Nicola O’Byrne (Nosy Crow)

Don’t Spill the Milk by Stephen Davies and illustrated by Christopher Corr (Andersen Press)

This is Not My Hat written and illustrated by Jon Klassen (Walker Books)

Monkey Nut written and illustrated by Simon Rickerty (Simon and Schuster)

The Dark  by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Jon Klassen (Orchard)

How to Hide a Lion written and illustrated by Helen Stephens (Scholastic)

7-11

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (Random House Children’s Publishers)

The Naming of Tishkin Silk by Glenda Millard and illustrated by Caroline Magerl (Phoenix Yard Books)

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell (Faber and Faber)

Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead (Andersen Press)

The Last Wild by Piers Torday (Quercus)

The Story of the Blue Planet by Andri Snaer Magnason, illustrated by Áslaug Jónsdótti and translated by Julian Meldon D’Arcy (Pushkin Press)

12-16

The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks (Puffin)

Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner and illustrated by Julian Crouch (Hot Key Books)

Monkey Wars by Richard Kurti (Walker Books)

The Positively Last Performance by Geraldine McCaughrean (Oxford University Press)

The Wall by William Sutcliffe (Bloomsbury)

Now is the Time for Running by Michael Williams (Random House Children’s Publishers)

The three winners will be announced on July 4th during the 50th UKLA International Conference at the University of Sussex.

Internet Rehab Week

I just came home from a six day mountain skiing trip to Jökulfirðir, (Glacier Fjords) one of the last places in Europe with no internet or phone connection. We went with the sailboat Aurora Arktika from Ísafjörður, into Hesteyrarfjord where we climed the mountain on our skis, came down into the next fjord Veiðileysufjord (Fjord of no fish) where the boat waited for us with a warm meal. The next day we climed the mountain again – into the next fjord etc… One of the best trips I have had and yes I am back on the internet. The pictures are from my Instagram. If you want to take the boat you can get information here:

Yes this is sunset – and a humpback whale.

Stop – join us for a great concert and film premier!

Concert the 18th of March!

LoveStar Audiobook – by Audible

Hello everybody – LoveStar has been published by Audible as an Audiobook. LoveStar was the winner of the special citation of Excellence by the Philip K Dick award 2013 – now the book is available from Audible, just click here. The book itself came out by Seven Stories Press in 2012, also available on Kindle.

LoveStar has been published in English, Turkish, Hungarian, German and Icelandic. Soon it will be available in France, Japan and in Arabic, published in Egypt.

Tímakistan – (The Casket of Time )

Dear reader! Sorry for being so late to announce this but Andri Snær Magnason has finally released a NEW BOOK. Tímakistan is the latest book by Andri Snær Magnason and it just won the Icelandic Literary Award in the Childrens/YA category. This is the third time Andri Snær Magnason wins this award, and the third category to win in. Dreamland won the prize for Non fiction in 2006 and The Story of the Blue Planet for Fiction. (Before a children’s/YA category was established). The book has been doing very well on the book market here in Iceland appealing to readers of all ages and the theatrical Rights have been sold to the City Theater of Reykjavík.

Tímakistan (The Casket of Time) is also nominated for the West Nordic Children’s book Award and it won the Bookseller Award as best YA book of 2013 in Iceland.

Tímakistan contains 300 pages of strange events. It starts when things are looking bad and economists predict a very bad year, Sigrun’s family is lucky – they can crawl into their BlackBoxes® and wait for better times. But one day, Sigrún’s box opens and she is confronted by an abandoned city in ruins, with everyone stuck in black boxes waiting for things to get better.

Sigrun meets a strange old lady in a house full of lost children. The old lady tells them a story of a greedy king who conquered the world but yearned to conquer time. With a magical casket, transparent like glass but made of spidersilk, with such a dense weave that even time cannot penetrate the walls, the king can spare his beautiful princess the ugly days, the dark days, the rainy days, the normal days and the worthless days. One day a small boy opens the casket and the princess discovers that 20 years have passed, the kingdom is crumbling and the king has gone mad.

There seems to be a connexion of some sort between the old woman’s story and Sigrun’s world. She and her friends must find the link, which will hopefully show them how to fix the world.

 

 

published in Icelandic by Mál og menning in 2013. 300 pages.

Awards:

Winner of The Icelandic Literary Award 2013 – (Children’s/ Young Adult)

Bookseller Award – Best YA book of 2013.

Nominated for the West Nordic Children’s book award.

Rights for the play sold to the City Theater of Reykjavík

About The Casket of Time:

 

In the Austrian Radio – (in German)

Hello all and happy new year. A program about Andri Snær Magnason by Johan Kneihs is tonight in the Austrian Radio. Listen here (with a link to the webcast). Four of my books have been published in German. LoveStar, The Story of the Blue Planet, Dreamland and Bonus Poetry.

More info in German here from the website:

Sehen so Rebellen aus? Andri Snær Magnason, geboren 1973, fährt einen bulligen Jeep mit reichlich Platz für seine vier Kinder. Zur Dichterlesung in seinem komfortablen Eigenheim erscheint der Staatspräsident. Fast alle Parteien einschließlich der Konservativen haben versucht, ihn anzuwerben. Andri Snær Magnason ist erfolgreich, beliebt, und umstritten. Er bedient jedes Genre nur einmal: ein Science-Fiction-Roman, ein Theaterstück, ein Band mit Kurzgeschichten, ein Kinderbuch, in 20 Sprachen übersetzt. Verlässlich werden es Bestseller, das gilt selbst für seine Lyrik. Magnasons “Bónus-Gedichte” verkauften sich zu Tausenden in der größten isländischen Supermarktkette – trotz beißender Konsumkritik. Magnasons größter Erfolg ist ein Sachbuch: “Traumland”, in Island 20.000 Mal verkauft, vom Autor selbst verfilmt und vor kurzem auf Deutsch erschienen. Halb Sammlung von Fakten, halb poetisch-philosophisches Manifest, protestiert das Buch gegen Ausverkauf und Zerstörung von Islands Natur, um aus Wasserkraft und Erdwärme billigen Strom für Aluminiumfabriken zu erzeugen. 2006, im Erscheinungsjahr des Buchs, ketteten sich Umweltschützer an Baufahrzeuge, um Europas größten Staudamm bei Kárahnjúkar zu verhindern. “Es mag uns gut gehen heute in Island”, schrieb Magnason damals, noch vor dem isländischen Finanzfiasko. “Dennoch scheint die Nation besessen von einer Art Wahrnehmungsstörung, einer Zwangsvorstellung: Wir sind ein armes, kleines Land. Wir brauchen etwas, das uns rettet. Dass Island aus seinem Dornröschenschlaf in die Gegenwart getaumelt ist, ist nicht die Folge eines organischen, sich von innen entwickelnden Prozesses. Vielmehr wurde das Land im Zweiten Weltkrieg auf einen Schlag von der Gegenwart besetzt. Die Menschen wurden per Kaiserschnitt in die Gegenwart geholt und leiden noch heute an diesem Trauma.” Der Spross einer Ärztefamilie ist angetreten, das isländische Trauma zu heilen. Seine Medizin: Besinnung auf die Natur, Bewusstheit für Kultur. Mit Architekt/innen arbeitet er an besseren Gebäuden; er hat ethnografische Tonaufnahmen alter Gesangsdichtung veröffentlicht und in Reykjavík eine Nacht ohne Lichter durchgesetzt, damit die Sterne wieder sichtbar werden.

Airwords tomorrow – with visual installations by Marcos Zotes

Airwaves has started and tomorrow we have Airwords in Kaldalón, an evening of music, poetry and storytelling. Marcos Zotes is an amazing artist that has joined the group and will create visuals from the writers words:

Look at his website here: http://www.unstablespace.com/

Here you can see his work on Hallgrímskirkja:

RAFMÖGNUÐ NÁTTÚRA from UNSTABLE on Vimeo.

And here you can see everything about the event:

For the first time Airwaves will feature some great writers on this years program. A special event – Airwords will be in Kaldalón – Thursday – the 31st of October. The evening will feature music as well as writers that will perform or read from their work and visual installations by Marcos Zotes. The lineup is as here says:

19:45 POET: AUÐUR AVA ÓLAFSDÓTTIR

20:00 POET: KRISTÍN ÓMARSDÓTTIR

20:15 ELÍN EY

21:00 POET: HALLGRÍMUR HELGASON

21:20 ROBERT FORSTER (AU)

22:30 POET: ANDRI SNÆR MAGNASON

22:45 POET: RYAN BOUDINOT (US)

23:00 EMPRESS OF (US)

00:10 LAY LOW

Here you can read an interview with Andri Snær Magnason on how the event came about:

http://airwaves.grapevine.is/grapevine-airwaves-2013/hearing-the-airwords-with-andri-snaer-magnason/

Here is the official schedule of Airwaves:

http://icelandairwaves.is/pdf/schedule.pdf

 

Airwords

For the first time Airwaves introduces – AIRWORDS – in Kaldalón, Harpan. Featuring writers Hallgrímur Helgason, Auður Ava, Kristín Ómarsdóttir, Andri Snær Magnason and Ryan Boudinot we will hear some great literature mixed in with musicians, Elín Ey (IS), The Empress (US), Lay Low and Robert Forster (AU). The writers are free to use music, visuals or only words.

Kristín Ómarsdóttir – Reykjavík

Kristín Ómarsdóttir lives and works in Reykjavik, Iceland. Kristín writes poetry, novels, short stories, and plays and works in the field of visual arts. She has published six novels, four books of short stories, seven books of poetry and a number of her plays have been produced. Kristín is celebrated by her readers for her dark, surreal and sometimes naive way of storytelling. She has been nominated for numerous prizes, among them The Nordic Council Literary Prize in 1999 for the novel Elskan mín ég dey (I’ll die my Love). In 2012 her novel Hér (Children in Reindeer Woods) was published in the US.

 

Hallgrímur Helgason – Reykjavík

Hallgrímur Helgason is an Icelandic author, painter, translator, cartoonist and essayist. His work has been published in more than 20 languages. His novel 101 Reykjavík came out in 1996 and became a film by Balthasar Kormákur. 101 Reykjavík captured the Zeitgeist of the new emerging Reykjavík in the last decade of the 20th century. Since then he has written quite a few novels, the most recent one – The Woman at 1000 degrees.

“A sensational book. Hallgrimur Helgason’s brain is like this amazing app that morphs the English language into gorgeously blunt new forms. It delivers surprise after surprise and makes you feel good about books again. I can’t recommend it enough.”

–Douglas Coupland, author of Generation X

 

Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir – Reykjavík

Auður Ava Olafsdottir is an Icelandic novelist and playwright living in Reykjavik. Readers all around the world have fallen in love with her novel The Greenhouse (Rosa candida in French, Italian and Spanish), now published in 21 languages. In September 2010, it received the Prix de Page literary award as the best European novel of 2010. Her play Swans mate for life will be staged by the National Theater of Iceland this winter.

“One of the most unexpected and greatest discoveries of the year.” (Le Parisien)

 

Ryan Boudinot – Seattle

Ryan Boudinot is the author of the novels Blueprints of the Afterlife and Misconception, and the story collection The Littlest Hitler. His work has been highly praised and nominated for various prizes. He has been regarded as one of the most promising talents of his generation. Ryan Boudinot is leading an effort to designate Seattle a UNESCO City of Literature.

“Ryan Boudinot . . . writes like the bastard son of Philip K. Dick, William S. Burroughs and Aldous Huxley. . . ”—Josh Davis, Time Out New York

Andri Snær Magnason – Reykjavík

Andri Snær Magnason is born in Reykjavík and was first noticed when he published a volume of poetry with Bónus, the local supermarket chain. His children’s book, The Story of the Blue Planet won the Icelandic Literary Award and just came out in English after being published or staged in 30 countries. His Dreamland project, both book and film influenced greatly the political discourse in Iceland. His novel LoveStar published by Seven Stories Press in New York won a Philip K. Dick special citation award in 2013. He has a new book coming out: “Tímakistan” in Icelandic 2013.

” … the sheer wackiness of Magnason’s oversized imagination is invigorating.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

 

BREAKING NEWS – AIRWORDS ON AIRWAVES!

For the first time Airwaves will feature some great writers on this years program. A special event – Airwords will be in Kaldalón – Thursday – the 31st of October. The evening will feature music as well as writers that will perform or read from their work. The lineup is as here says:

19:45 POET: AUÐUR AVA ÓLAFSDÓTTIR

20:00 POET: KRISTÍN ÓMARSDÓTTIR

20:15 ELÍN EY

21:00 POET: HALLGRÍMUR HELGASON

21:20 ROBERT FORSTER (AU)

22:30 POET: ANDRI SNÆR MAGNASON

22:45 POET: RYAN BOUDINOT (US)

23:00 EMPRESS OF (US)

00:10 LAY LOW

Here you can read an interview with Andri Snær Magnason on how the event came about:

http://airwaves.grapevine.is/grapevine-airwaves-2013/hearing-the-airwords-with-andri-snaer-magnason/

Here is the official schedule of Airwaves:

http://icelandairwaves.is/pdf/schedule.pdf

 

Airwords

For the first time Airwaves introduces – AIRWORDS – in Kaldalón, Harpan. Featuring writers Hallgrímur Helgason, Auður Ava, Kristín Ómarsdóttir, Andri Snær Magnason and Ryan Boudinot we will hear some great literature mixed in with musicians, Elín Ey (IS), The Empress (US), Lay Low and Robert Forster (AU). The writers are free to use music, visuals or only words.

Kristín Ómarsdóttir – Reykjavík

Kristín Ómarsdóttir lives and works in Reykjavik, Iceland. Kristín writes poetry, novels, short stories, and plays and works in the field of visual arts. She has published six novels, four books of short stories, seven books of poetry and a number of her plays have been produced. Kristín is celebrated by her readers for her dark, surreal and sometimes naive way of storytelling. She has been nominated for numerous prizes, among them The Nordic Council Literary Prize in 1999 for the novel Elskan mín ég dey (I’ll die my Love). In 2012 her novel Hér (Children in Reindeer Woods) was published in the US.

 

Hallgrímur Helgason – Reykjavík

Hallgrímur Helgason is an Icelandic author, painter, translator, cartoonist and essayist. His work has been published in more than 20 languages. His novel 101 Reykjavík came out in 1996 and became a film by Balthasar Kormákur. 101 Reykjavík captured the Zeitgeist of the new emerging Reykjavík in the last decade of the 20th century. Since then he has written quite a few novels, the most recent one – The Woman at 1000 degrees.

“A sensational book. Hallgrimur Helgason’s brain is like this amazing app that morphs the English language into gorgeously blunt new forms. It delivers surprise after surprise and makes you feel good about books again. I can’t recommend it enough.”

–Douglas Coupland, author of Generation X

 

Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir – Reykjavík

Auður Ava Olafsdottir is an Icelandic novelist and playwright living in Reykjavik. Readers all around the world have fallen in love with her novel The Greenhouse (Rosa candida in French, Italian and Spanish), now published in 21 languages. In September 2010, it received the Prix de Page literary award as the best European novel of 2010. Her play Swans mate for life will be staged by the National Theater of Iceland this winter.

“One of the most unexpected and greatest discoveries of the year.” (Le Parisien)

 

Ryan Boudinot – Seattle

Ryan Boudinot is the author of the novels Blueprints of the Afterlife and Misconception, and the story collection The Littlest Hitler. His work has been highly praised and nominated for various prizes. He has been regarded as one of the most promising talents of his generation. Ryan Boudinot is leading an effort to designate Seattle a UNESCO City of Literature.

“Ryan Boudinot . . . writes like the bastard son of Philip K. Dick, William S. Burroughs and Aldous Huxley. . . ”—Josh Davis, Time Out New York

Andri Snær Magnason – Reykjavík

Andri Snær Magnason is born in Reykjavík and was first noticed when he published a volume of poetry with Bónus, the local supermarket chain. His children’s book, The Story of the Blue Planet won the Icelandic Literary Award and just came out in English after being published or staged in 30 countries. His Dreamland project, both book and film influenced greatly the political discourse in Iceland. His novel LoveStar published by Seven Stories Press in New York won a Philip K. Dick special citation award in 2013. He has a new book coming out: “Tímakistan” in Icelandic 2013.

” … the sheer wackiness of Magnason’s oversized imagination is invigorating.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review