Out of the Blue

This extraordinary collection, the first anthology of Icelandic short fiction published in English translation, features work by twenty of Icelands most popular and celebrated living authors-including Andri Sne6r Magnason, Jf3n Kalman Stefe1nsson, Kristedn d3marsdf3ttir, and Augur Jf3nsdf3ttir-granddaughter of Halldf3r Laxness, who won the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature. Celebrated in Europe and Scandinavia but less known in the English-speaking world, these writers traverse realms of darkness and light that will be familiar to readers who have fallen under the spell of Scandinavian fiction. While uniquely Icelandic in topography and tenor, with a touch of the islands supernatural charm, the stories traffic in the enduring and universal complexities of human nature. Here is a fictional universe where the ghosts of Vikings and spirits tread, volcanoes grumble underfoot, and writers trip the Northern Lights fantastic across the landscape of the Icelandic imagination. At long last, readers can enjoy award-winning stories now expertly rendered into English by the countrys most renowned translators. In Killer Whalea father contemplates euthanasia for a terminally ill child, in Self Portraita vacationing family in Spain crosses paths with migrants, in Escape for Mena woman searches for an ex-lover in the South of France, and in The Most Precious Secretthe nature of artists and the art world is mercilessly revealed. Both the Viking myths of Icelands forefathers and the cutting-edge modern world of the country today are brilliantly alive in these remarkable and original stories. This collection is an excursion to an island where almost two million travelers descend yearly on a population of 345 thousand natives. Iceland is the place Bjf6rk calls home, the location where Game of Thrones was filmed-a place with open lava fields, glaciers, and iceberg lagoons among other natural wonders that is becoming one of the hottesttourist destinations on earth. Out of the Blue transports readers to Icelands timeless and magical island of Vikings and geographical wonders, and it promises to be a seminal collection that will define Icelandic literature in translation for decades to come. Contributors: Augur Ava Olafsdf3ttir, Kristedn Eiredksdf3ttir, def3rarinn Eldje1rn, Gyrgir Eledasson, Einar d6rn Gunnarsson, d3lafur Gunnarsson, Einar Me1r Gugmundsson, Augur Jf3nsdf3ttir, Gergur Kristnfd, Andri Sne6r Magnason, d3skar Magnfasson, Bragi d3lafsson, Kristedn d3marsdf3ttir, d3skar c1rni d3skarsson, Magnfas Sigurgsson, Jf3n Kalman Stefe1nsson, c1gfast Borgfef3r Sverrisson, Gugmundur Andri Thorsson, def3runn Erlu-Valdimarsdf3ttir, Rfanar Helgi Vignisson.