May 2008

About 12 years ago, when I was just starting out as a freelance translator, I got a job translating a film script from Icelandic into English. It was written by a young up-and-coming filmmaker [who has since gone on to make a couple of attention-grabbing films] and the translation was commissioned by the Icelandic National [...]

Make no mistake: despite its many remarkable accomplishments, the Nicelandic nation is seriously afflicted with small-nation complex. And nowhere does this complex manifest as clearly as in its obsession with the Eurovision Song Contest. For those who don’t know, Eurovision is a pan-European contest organized by the national broadcasting services in each of the nations, [...]

Almost everybody knows about the Icelandic Sagas – the epic tales of Vikings and kings that were so eloquently recorded in Iceland in the 12th and 13th centuries and which still physically exist today in the form of our manuscripts, most of whom are preserved at the Culture House here in Reykjavík. As many readers [...]

Went to the end-of-the-year showcase performance by students at the National School of Dance this evening, held at the Reykjavík City Theatre. My youngest stepdaughter was performing … it’s her last show at this particular venue as she’ll graduate at the end of the fall semester and these performances are generally only held there in [...]