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Wednesday, November 23rd 2016 : "Iceland"
I love islands - that's probably already clear from the setting of my books, my travel writing and this blog. After such a hectic October really I should have had a quiet time at home, but islands tempt me; I'm lured back to them. I was lured back to Iceland Noir by the chance to meet up with wonderful friends and a strange, wild but somehow intimate landscape. I was still deciding whether or not to go when I obtained an Icelandic publisher, the small press Ugla (which means Owl) and Hidden Depths was shortlisted for the Ice Pick award for best translated novel. Then I felt I had to be there to support Jakob, my new publisher.
I'm so glad that I went - despite one sleepless night when the music in the night club next to the hotel continued until 5 in the morning. It was cold, with flurries of sleet and ice underfoot, snow on the mountains that surround the town. But in the Nordic House, there was the warmth of greeting old friends - Icelandic, British and Scandie - of bookish conversations and a shared sense of adventure. Jakob had worked as a journalist and arranged interviews with radio and TV as well as newspapers and magazines. It felt as if every encounter was a real conversation, rather than an interview. In Iceland, it seems, books still matter. Marion Pauw won the Ice Pick Award for her crime novel translated from the Dutch. It sounds a fascinating novel and a real challenge for the translator -Ragna Sigurdardottir - and I look forward to reading it in English.
I was at the first Iceland Noir and it's grown in scope and popularity, but some traditions remain the same, and that's what makes it a friendly and informal festival. A few of us gathered at Ragnar's house for an Icelandic Christmas supper and then everyone was invited to Yrsa's home for a party. Celebrations went on well into the early hours. On Saturday night there's always a Gala Dinner; at our table Iceland's first lady chatted crime fiction with a bookseller and an agent.
Then came the surprise ending, the unexpected twist to the tale. Ragnar announced that I'd been given an honorary award for Exceptional Contribution to the Art of Crime Fiction. I was astonished and delighted. There was a plaque and a beautiful Icelandic woollen blanket. I will treasure them both and of course I'll be back in two years time. If you love books, the company of readers and writers, and a landscape to take your breath away, you should be there too.
Posted by Ann at 10:05 AM GMT
