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Konur (novel)
''Konur'' is a 2008 Icelandic novel by Steinar Bragi. It enjoyed considerable critical and commercial success, was nominated for the Nordic Council's Literature Prize, and has been widely translated. Synopsis The novel is set in Reykjavík during the boom that preceded the 2008–11 Icelandic financial crisis. The protagonist of the novel is Eva, an Icelander who spent most of her formative years in California, and works as an artist. Largely estranged from her family, recently abandoned by her long-term partner Hrafn (and emotionally scarred by the cot-death some years before of her daughter by him), and implicitly without a very successful career, Eva moves from New York to Reykjavík, taking up the offer of an Icelandic banker, Emil Þorsson, to house-sit his flat, in one of the new developments on Sæbraut, opposite the sculpture Sólfar. After a series of somewhat strange encounters with neighbours which serve as opportunities to develop Eva's character and back-story, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its surrounding areas) is home to over 65% of the population. Iceland is the biggest part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that rises above sea level, and its central volcanic plateau is erupting almost constantly. The interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains, and glaciers, and many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence keep summers chilly, and most of its islands have a polar climate. According to the ancient manuscript , the settlement of Iceland began in 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steinar Bragi
Steinar Bragi (full name: Steinar Bragi Guðmundsson) is an Icelandic writer born 15 August 1975. He has been called 'Iceland's foremost contemporary author, in the estimation of many'. Career At the age of 23 he published his first book of poetry, ''Svarthol'', and his first novel, ''Turninn'' ('the tower'), was published in 2000. He studied comparative literature and philosophy at the University of Iceland. In 2008, his book '' Konur'' ('Women') received great critical and commercial success and was nominated for the Nordic Council literature prize. Current affairs, particularly the 2008–11 Icelandic financial crisis, are prominent in his work from 2008 onwards, such as '' Konur'' and '' Hálendið: Skáldsaga''. Steinar Bragi is sometimes considered to be in the "new wave" of younger Icelandic authors influenced by popular culture and in his case the grotesque, with influences from horror writers such as H. P. Lovecraft. He is also notable as a poet. Most of Steinar Bragi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nordic Council's Literature Prize
The Nordic Council Literature Prize is awarded for a work of literature written in one of the languages of the Nordic countries, that meets "high literary and artistic standards". Established in 1962, the prize is awarded every year, and is worth 350,000 Danish kroner (2008). Eligible works are typically novels, plays, collections of poetry, short stories or essays, or other works that were published for the first time during the last four years, or in the case of works written in Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish, within the last two years. The prize is one of the most prestigious awards that Nordic authors can win. The winner is chosen by an adjudication committee appointed by the Nordic Council. The committee consists of ten members, two each from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The committee members are generally experts in their own country's literature, as well as their neighbouring countries. In addition to the regular members, additional members may be added to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reykjavík
Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a population of around 131,136 (and 233,034 in the Capital Region), it is the centre of Iceland's cultural, economic, and governmental activity, and is a popular tourist destination. Reykjavík is believed to be the location of the first permanent settlement in Iceland, which, according to Landnámabók, was established by Ingólfr Arnarson in 874 CE. Until the 18th century, there was no urban development in the city location. The city was officially founded in 1786 as a trading town and grew steadily over the following decades, as it transformed into a regional and later national centre of commerce, population, and governmental activities. It is among the cleanest, greenest, and safest cities in the world. History According to lege ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sólfar
''The Sun Voyager'' ( is, Sólfar ) is a sculpture by Jón Gunnar Árnason, located next to the Sæbraut road in Reykjavík, Iceland. ''Sun Voyager'' is described as a dreamboat, or an ode to the Sun. The artist intended it to convey the promise of undiscovered territory, a dream of hope, progress and freedom. History In 1986, the district association of the west part of the city funded a competition for a new outdoor sculpture to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the city of Reykjavík. Árnason's ''Sun Voyager'' won the competition, and the aluminium model () was presented to the city for enlargement. The full-sized ''Sun Voyager'' was eventually unveiled on Sæbraut on the birthday of the city of Reykjavík, 18 August 1990. The work is constructed of stainless steel and stands on a circle of granite slabs surrounded by so-called "town-hall concrete". It was constructed in accordance with Árnason's enlarged full-scale drawing of ''Sun Voyager'' and was overseen by his assi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl
Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl (born 1 July 1978) is an Icelandic writer. For a long time most noted as an experimental poet, he has recently also come to prominence as one of Iceland's foremost prose writers. Biography Born in Reykjavík, Eiríkur Örn grew up in Ísafjörður. By Eiríkur's account he committed to a career as a writer around 2000, though he has necessarily often found an income through a wide range of other jobs, experiencing some periods of considerable hardship.S. J. Fowler, ‘ "Prostitutes don’t just get lucky by accident": An Interview with Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl', ''3:AM Magazine'', Sunday, 4 April 2010. http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-8-eirikur-orn-norddahl. He lived in Berlin from around 2002-4, and over the next ten years in various northern European countries, most prominently in Helsinki (c. 2006-9) and Oulu (c. 2009-11). In 2004 Eiríkur was a founder member of the Icelandic avant-garde poetry collective Nýhil, which organised poetry event ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neoliberalism
Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent factor in the rise of conservative and libertarian organizations, political parties, and think tanks, and predominantly advocated by them, it is generally associated with policies of economic liberalization, including privatization, deregulation, globalization, free trade, monetarism, austerity, and reductions in government spending in order to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society. The defining features of neoliberalism in both thought and practice have been the subject of substantial scholarly debate. As an economic philosophy, neoliberalism emerged among European liberal scholars in the 1930s as they attempted to revive and renew central ideas from classical liberalism as they saw these ideas diminish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natur & Kultur
Natur & Kultur is a Swedish publishing foundation with head office in Stockholm known for an extensive series of teaching materials. Its logotype is an apple tree. Overview The publishing house was founded in 1922 by Johan Hansson and his wife Jenny Bergqvist Hansson, with a focus on educational and didactic works of literature. During the Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ..., it published anti-Nazi literature. It was transformed into a foundation in 1947. In the 1980s and 1990s, Natur & Kultur bought a number of other publishing houses, such as Askild & Kärnekull Förlag AB, (later renamed to Legenda) and LTs Förlag. In addition to textbooks for different levels of education, Natur & Kultur also publishes literary classics and mainstream litera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2009 Novels
9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and Gupta started curving the bottom vertical line coming up with a -look-alike. The Nagari continued the bottom stroke to make a circle and enclose the 3-look-alike, in much the same way that the sign @ encircles a lowercase ''a''. As time went on, the enclosing circle became bigger and its line continued beyond the circle downwards, as the 3-look-alike became smaller. Soon, all that was left of the 3-look-alike was a squiggle. The Arabs simply connected that squiggle to the downward stroke at the middle and subsequent European change was purely cosmetic. While the shape of the glyph for the digit 9 has an ascender in most modern typefaces, in typefaces with text figures the character usually has a descender, as, for example, in . The mod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Icelandic Novels
Icelandic refers to anything of, from, or related to Iceland and may refer to: *Icelandic people *Icelandic language *Icelandic alphabet * Icelandic cuisine See also * Icelander (other) * Icelandic Airlines, a predecessor of Icelandair * Icelandic horse, a breed of domestic horse * Icelandic sheep, a breed of domestic sheep * Icelandic Sheepdog, a breed of domestic dog * Icelandic cattle Icelandic cattle ( is, íslenskur nautgripur ) are a breed of cattle native to Iceland. Cattle were first brought to the island during the Settlement of Iceland a thousand years ago. Icelandic cows are an especially colorful breed with a wide va ..., a breed of cattle * Icelandic chicken, a breed of chicken {{disambig Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
