{"product_id":"out-of-the-blue-new-short-fiction-from-iceland-9781517902339","title":"Out of the Blue: New Short Fiction from Iceland","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA groundbreaking collection of fiction from Iceland's best contemporary authors\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis extraordinary collection, the first anthology of Icelandic short fiction published in English translation, features work by twenty of Iceland's most popular and celebrated living authors--including Andri Sn r Magnason, Jón Kalman Stefánsson, Kristín Ómarsdóttir, and Auður Jónsdóttir--granddaughter of Halldór Laxness, who won the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCelebrated 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 island's 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt long last, readers can enjoy award-winning stories now expertly rendered into English by the country's most renowned translators. In \"Killer Whale\" a father contemplates euthanasia for a terminally ill child, in \"Self Portrait\" a vacationing family in Spain crosses paths with migrants, in \"Escape for Men\" a woman searches for an ex-lover in the South of France, and in \"The Most Precious Secret\" the nature of artists and the art world is mercilessly revealed. Both the Viking myths of Iceland's forefathers and the cutting-edge modern world of the country today are brilliantly alive in these remarkable and original stories.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis 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 Björk calls home, the location where \u003ci\u003eGame of Thrones\u003c\/i\u003e was filmed--a place with open lava fields, glaciers, and iceberg lagoons among other natural wonders that is becoming one of the \"hottest\" tourist destinations on earth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eOut of the Blue\u003c\/i\u003e transports readers to Iceland's 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eContributors: Auður Ava Olafsdóttir, Kristín Eiríksdóttir,  órarinn Eldjárn, Gyrðir Elíasson, Einar Örn Gunnarsson, Ólafur Gunnarsson, Einar Már Guðmundsson, Auður Jónsdóttir, Gerður Kristný, Andri Sn r Magnason, Óskar Magnússon, Bragi Ólafsson, Kristín Ómarsdóttir, Óskar Árni Óskarsson, Magnús Sigurðsson, Jón Kalman Stefánsson, Ágúst Borg ór Sverrisson, Guðmundur Andri Thorsson,  órunn Erlu-Valdimarsdóttir, Rúnar Helgi Vignisson.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eHelen Mitsios is a poet, author, literary critic, and editor of the groundbreaking anthologies \u003ci\u003eNew Japanese Voices: The Best Contemporary Fiction from Japan\u003c\/i\u003e, which was twice listed both as a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book Review Editors' Choice and \"Summer Reading\" selection; also \u003ci\u003eDigital Geishas\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eTalking Frogs: The Best Short Stories from Japan\u003c\/i\u003e; and most recently \u003ci\u003eBeneath the Ice: An Anthology of Contemporary Icelandic Poetry\u003c\/i\u003e. An award-winning poet, she is author of \u003ci\u003eIf Black Had a Shadow\u003c\/i\u003e and coauthor of \u003ci\u003eWaltzing with the Enemy: A Mother and Daughter Confront the Aftermath of the Holocaust\u003c\/i\u003e. She is a professor of languages and literature at Touro College and University System in New York City.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSjón is an award-winning Icelandic author whose novels \u003ci\u003eThe Blue Fox, The Whispering Muse, From the Mouth of the Whale \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was \u003c\/i\u003ehave been translated into thirty-five languages. Also a poet, he has published nine poetry collections, written four opera librettos and lyrics for various artists. In 2001 he was nominated for an Oscar for his lyrics in the film \u003ci\u003eDancer in The Dark\u003c\/i\u003e. Sjón is the president of the Icelandic PEN Centre. He lives in Reykjavik. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of Minnesota Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52127716638994,"sku":"9781517902339","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_07ddeb36-09eb-43a3-a07f-a3742df6edec.jpg?v=1773744595","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/out-of-the-blue-new-short-fiction-from-iceland-9781517902339","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}