The Grassroot Grants of the Icelandic Literature Center for 2023 go to Magnús Jochum Pálsson and Margét Marteinsdóttir
Grassroot grants are awarded annually, with the aim of supporting publication of the work of newcomers on the writing scene and encouraging them to further endeavours
Each grant amounts to 500.000 Icelandic krona and the grants were presented by Lilja Alfreðsdóttir, Minister of Culture to the writers at a ceremony held in Gunnarshús, the house of the Writers´ Union.
This is the sixteenth year that the Icelandic Literature Center awards Grassroot grants. Around 80 writers have benefited from such a grant, since its inception. Among those are Fríða Ísberg, Bergur Ebbi Benediktsson, Pedro Gunnlaugar Garcia, Dagur Hjartarson, Halldór Armand Ásgeirsson, Kristín Ragna Gunnarsdóttir and Sverrir Norland.
This year, we received 57 Grassroot applications. As stated before, the grants awarded this year are for a novel and for a poetry book. The recipients are selected by literary consultants for the Icelandic Literature Center.
The Grassroot Grants of the Icelandic Literature Center for 2023 go to the following works and authors:
Grunnsævi ("Shallows")
A novel
Author: Margrét Marteinsdóttir was born in 1971 and grew up in Breiðholt. She studied history and political science at the University of Iceland. Margrét has worked in media for most of her career. She worked at RÚV, the national broadcasting service, for 16 years creating radio and television programming and as a television reporter. In recent years, she has worked various jobs including working at the Grund nursing home, the Women's Refuge and Gljúfrasteinn, the museum for Halldór Laxness. Margrét currently works as a journalist at the Heimildin newspaper.
The consultants´ verdict:
“Grunnsævi is a multi-layered novel about a 49-year-old woman who is dying in a retirement home in Reykjavík. A haunting account of trauma and pain that continues to be passed down through generations "until someone stops it." A deep desire to take control of one's life and the inability to rewrite one's destiny are delicately juxtaposed. The tone of the story is captivating, the style realistic and extremely visual”
Mannakjöt ("Human Flesh")
A book of poetry
Author: Magnús Jochum Pálsson is a 25-year-old student of creative writing and a journalist. In the summer of 2018, he published a collection of short stories The Status Quo. Since then, poems and stories by him have appeared in magazines, poetry collections and in the radio. After completing his BA in Icelandic studies at the University of Iceland in the summer of 2021, he started a master's in creative writing at the same school. Along with his studies, he has worked as a primary school teacher and a journalist, both jobs have given him a unique insight into Icelandic society.
The consultants´ verdict:
“The book of poems Mannakjöt has a well thought out structure that forces the reader think about the darker side of humanity and what awaits the earth if mankind does not change its behavior. The author has an originality in his take on the human being, its greed, addiction, and limitless consumption, but also how he writes about the cycle of life and the family. Unexpected images, intriguing references and a fun play on words and form amplify the effect of the poems.”