Nordic Authors You Should Know at Scandinavia House continues with a focus on Icelandic literature with The Imposter Poets, a poetry collective made up of members Thórdís Helgadóttir, Thóra Hjörleifsdóttir, Fríða Ísberg, Ragnheiður Harpa Leifsdóttir, Sunna Dís Másdóttir, and Melkorka Ólafsdóttir, moderated by author and translator Larissa Kyzer. The event will begin with short readings of each of the authors’ work in both English and in Icelandic, followed by interviews with the authors and a conversation on Icelandic literature today.

Please send audience questions ahead of the discussion to info@amscan.org. Select questions will be chosen for a Q&A following the conversation. Registration is required; please sign up at the link above.

The program will be presented live and will later be available to stream from YouTube and Facebook. Nordic Authors You Should Know will continue with more events throughout the fall.

Media support for the series is provided by the journal EuropeNow, published by the Council for European Studies at Columbia University.

Thora Hjorleifsdottir is an Icelandic writer, based in Reykjavik. Thora is the coauthor three poetry collections with the Imposter Poets, poetry collective. Her first novel Kvika (MAGMA) was published in Iceland in 2019 to critical and commercial acclaim. MAGMA is a poetic novel about love in the 21st century and how pornograhpy and abuse have been normalized in intimate relationships. MAGMA has been picked up by Grove Atlantic in the USA and Picador in the UK and will be published in March ´21.

Thordis Helgadottir is the author of acclaimed short story collection Keisaramörgæsir (Emperor Penguins) and co-author of two poetry collections with the Imposter Poets poetry collective. Her theatrical work has been staged at the Reykjavík City Theatre, where she was the 2019-2020 playwright-in-residence. Her short fiction has appeared widely, including in Iceland Review and Michigan Quarterly Review Mixtape (forthcoming). A former Fulbright scholar, Thordis holds degrees in creative writing and philosophy.

Fríða Ísberg (1992) is an Icelandic author based in Reykjavík. Her short story collection Kláði (Itch) came out in 2018 and is currently nominated for the 2020 Nordic Council Literary Prize, one of the most prestigious awards a Nordic author can win. Other works include poetry collections Slitförin (2017) and Leðurjakkaveður (2019). Fríða has twice been shortlisted for The Icelandic Women’s Literature Prize 2019 for Fiction and won The Icelandic Booksellers Award for Poetry in 2017. Her short fiction is forthcoming in The Southern Review and The Iowa Review. 

Ragnheiður Harpa Leifsdóttir is an author and artist. Her multidisciplinary practice spans the fields of performance, visual arts and writing. Her acclaimed poetry book Sítrónur og náttmyrkur (Lemons and Nightfall) was published in 2019 and she is co-author of three poetry collections by Svikaskáld (Imposter Poets). Ragnheiður Harpa has been shortlisted for the Icelandic Performing Arts Award. Her work has been published in Turkey and staged in Reykjavik and in various festivals throughout Europe. She is intrigued by collaboration, ephemerality and perception. Ragnheiður Harpa holds degrees in Creative Writing and Performance Making.

Sunna Dís Másdóttir is an author, poet, literary critic and writing instructor. Sunna has co-authored three poetry collections with poetry collective Impostor Poets. She is one of Iceland‘s representatives in the Prize Committee for the Nordic Council Literature Prize. Sunna‘s poetry has been published in online literary magazine Starafugl and her short story, “Summer House,” recently appeared in Iceland Review. She‘s published articles and literary reviews in numerous newspapers and magazines in Iceland. Sunna holds degrees in English and Creative Writing.

Melkorka Ólafsdóttir is a flautist and works as the program manager for music at the Harpa concert hall. Melkorka has written poetry since she was a child and has published two poetry chapbooks Unglingsljóð (Teen Poems; 2000) and Ástarljóð (Love Poems; 2004) as well as various poems in the literary journal Starafugl and the three collections co-authored by the Imposter Poets. Melkorka graduated with a Master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Iceland in 2018. Her first full-length poetry collection, Hérna eru fjöllin blá (Here the Mountains Are Blue), was published in 2019.