The latest issue of Iceland Review (Issue 4:2019 – Aug/Sep) includes my short story “If only you’d called”, which was originally published in Icelandic in my 2017 short story collection Smáglæpir (Misdemeanours). The English translation is by Larissa Kyzer, whose translation of Kristín Eiríksdóttir’s award winning novel A Fist or a Heart was recently published by Amazon Crossing.
Larissa and I are good friends and also worked together earlier this year at the PEN World Voices Festival in New York. It was a joy to witness how she approached my story. I was particularly impressed with how she solved certain technical challenges, as “If only you’d called” is one of the more complex stories in the collection in terms of plot and narration. Along with the stories “The husband and his brother” and “Flotsam”, it relies on a structure that is aching to what might be found in a thriller or murder mystery, and Larissa handled the gradual reveal of the story’s ending perfectly.
I’m also excited to see that Iceland Review has begun to publish fiction, as there is a great lack of such publishing outlets for Icelandic writers. Currently, there are only two or three magazines out there that regularly publish works by Icelandic writers and poets. Authors must, therefore, rely solely on the book publishing industry in order to get their work out there or take on the arduous task of self-publishing.
Along with recruiting a translator, Iceland Review also got artist Helga Páley Friðþjófsdóttir to do an illustration for the story—a rare treat for most authors. She did an amazing job and managed to capture the atmosphere of the story just as well as Larissa did in her translation. Getting to observe how other writers and artist tackle your work and interact with it is an absolute privilege. I can only hope that there will be more such chances in my future.
