UNIVERSITY of ICELAND 1–4 June 2017
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UNIVERSITY of ICELAND 1–4 June 2017 Húslestur [ˈhuːslɛsˌtʏr̥]: An old Icelandic custom where a family member would read aloud from a book to the rest of the household. www.nonfictionow.org Presented by the University of Iceland in partnership with: Contents Welcome 5 Acknowledgements 6 Keynote Speakers 7 Schedule 8 University Map 12 Reykjavík City Center Map 13 General Information 14 Roundtable Sessions 15 Panel Sessions 18 Thursday, 1 June, 6:15–10pm 18 Friday, 2 June, 8:30–9:45am 18 Friday, 2 June, 10:15–11:30am 20 Friday, 2 June, 12:30–1:45pm 21 Friday, 2 June, 2–3:15pm 23 Saturday, 3 June, 8:30–9:45am 24 Saturday, 3 June, 10:15–11:30am 26 Saturday, 3 June, 12:30–1:45pm 27 Saturday, 3 June, 2–3:15pm 29 Saturday, 3 June, 3:45–5pm 30 Saturday, 3 June, 5:15–6:30pm 32 Readings 34 Off-Venue Events 36 Bookfair Participants 38 Sponsors 39 4 NonfictioNow Conference 2017 Welcome From the NonfictioNOW 2017 Conference Co-Chairs Robin Hemley Rúnar Helgi Vignisson President and Founder Associate Professor of Creative NonfictioNOW Writing, University of Iceland Professor, Yale-NUS College, Singapore Chair of the Steering Committee Emeritus Professor, the University of Iowa Distinguished Visiting Professor, RMIT University, Melbourne Dear Attendees, Kæru ráðstefnugestir, Those of you who know me, know that I love to travel, but this We welcome you to the world of Icelandic, the language that wasn’t why I wanted to bring this year’s NonfictioNOW to has defined us since we settled this island in the middle of the Iceland, or at least, it wasn’t the sole reason. I first visited Iceland North Atlantic. It’s a language that has declensions by cases and in 2012 at the invitation of one of our co-chairs, Rúnar Helgi dozens of words for snow. You may think we speak an English Vignisson, to give a talk at the University of Iceland’s Art in dialect where we roll our r’s, and maybe that day will come. Translation Conference. I was impressed by how expertly Rúnar However, this Germanic language that we brought with us on and his colleagues organized Art in Translation, and since then, the ships when the island was settled over 1,100 years ago, is I’ve thought this would be a wonderful venue for NonfictioNOW. still our mother tongue: íslenska. Iceland is an exceedingly literary and innovative country, and NonfictioNOW seemed like a perfect fit. I’ve also sought from the Until a century ago, Icelanders used to live in houses made of beginning to make NonfictioNOW as international a conference turf. These houses were not the cozy houses of today, heated as possible, and I hope this will continue to be one of its hallmarks. by geothermal water. No, they were cold and dark. Imagine While North American writers produce an astonishing amount of these people in winter, sometimes with the wind howling brilliant nonfiction in its various forms, sometimes we, my fellow outside, huddling around the fire to listen to someone read North Americans, and the publishing worlds of New York and from the Holy Scriptures or the Icelandic sagas. This was called London, look only within our own borders for noteworthy voices. húslestur, which literally means “house reading.” Our conference This conference has no borders. Likewise, this conference has starts with what we would like to call húslestur—roundtable no allegiance to one form of nonfiction or another, and I hope in English—which seems appropriate, given this institution’s it will continue in this inclusive fashion. While NonfictioNOW foundational role in Icelandic literary culture. emphasizes the “now,” we should also celebrate and remember traditional forms of nonfiction in this conference. In the 13th and 14th centuries, Icelanders are believed to have recorded the Icelandic sagas, probably in the most elegant When I founded NonfictioNOW in 2005, I didn’t anticipate houses in the country. The sagas are based on historical events that the conference would be more than a one-off event, and that mostly took place in Iceland shortly after the country was I certainly never anticipated its growing popularity and stature. settled. In the early 18th century, a man called Árni Magnússon After this conference, I’m going to step aside so that the collected manuscripts of the Icelandic sagas from all over conference can continue to grow and change and not become a Iceland, some of which were kept on remote farms. He brought casualty of “Founder’s Syndrome.” But while I still have a pulpit, the manuscripts to Copenhagen—where a few of them were I’d like to express my deep gratitude to the board and steering forever lost in a fire—but most of the precious ones survived. committee of the conference, most especially to Vice Presidents, Scholars debate their historical accuracy: some consider them Nicole Walker and David Carlin, to Rúnar Helgi Vignisson, to fiction, others label them creative nonfiction. And that brings us Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir (without whom this year’s conference to NonfictioNOW, which we are most honored to host. would not be possible), to our hosts, the University of Iceland, our co-sponsors, and to my friends at the University of Iowa, Velkomin til Íslands!—Welcome to Iceland! who helped make the conference a reality in its early years (most particularly, Bonnie Sunstein, Patricia Foster, Jeff Porter, Barbara Bedell, and Brooks Landon). I hope you have a wonderful time at the conference and in Iceland. NonfictioNOW panelist Monica A. Hand passed away suddenly last year and we extend our sympathies to her family and friends. www.nonfictionow.org 5 Acknowledgements Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, President of Cecilie Landsverk, Norwegian Patrick Madden, Associate Professor, Iceland Ambassador to Iceland Brigham Young University and Vermont College of Fine Arts, USA Eliza Reid, First Lady of Iceland; Mikkel Harder, Director of the Nordic Co-Founder of the Iceland Writers House Elena Passarello, Assistant Professor, Retreat Oregon State University, USA Francesca Rendle-Short, RMIT University, Guðmundur Hálfdanarson, Dean of the Australia Heidi Stalla, Assistant Professor of School of Humanities, University of Iceland Humanities at Yale-NUS College in Martyn Hook, RMIT University, Australia Singapore, USA Kristján Árnason, Professor, University of Iceland Adlin Binti Zainal, Yale-NUS Writers’ Wendy S. Walters, Associate Dean of Art Centre, Singapore and Design History and Theory at Parsons; Kristín Helga Gunnarsdóttir, Writers’ Associate Professor of Literary Studies at Union of Iceland Leila Philip, College of the Holy Cross, Eugene Lang College at The New School, USA Worcester, USA Ragnheiður Tryggvadóttir, Writers’ Union NonfictioNOW Steering of Iceland Gerður Kristný, Author Committee Rúnar Helgi Vignisson, Associate Bjarni Bjarnason, Writers’ Union Sarah Dearne, Proofreader Professor, University of Iceland of Iceland Gauti Kristmannsson, Professor, Kristín Viðarsdóttir, Reykjavík UNESCO University of Iceland City of Literature NonfictioNOW Board Robin Hemley, Director of the Writing Ásdís Sigmundsdóttir, Adjunct, University Lára Aðalsteinsdóttir, Reykjavík UNESCO Program at Yale-NUS in Singapore; of Iceland City of Literature Founder and President, USA Margrét Guðmundsdóttir, Project Hrefna Haraldsdóttir, Icelandic Literature David Carlin, Associate Professor, Manager, University of Iceland Center Co-Founder of the non/fictionLab and Co-Director of WrICE at RMIT University; Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir, Project Manager Egill Örn Jóhannsson, Icelandic Publishers Vice-President, Australia Association Volunteers Rúnar Helgi Vignisson, Associate Auður Styrkársdóttir Halldór Guðmundsson, former Director Professor, Director of the Creative Don Sudbrink of Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Writing Program at the University of Esther Carlin Center Iceland; 2017 Conference Co-Chair, Freyja Auðunsdóttir Iceland Halla Sigurgeirsdóttir Svanhildur Konráðsdóttir, Director Hlín Leifsdóttir of Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Nicole Walker, Associate Professor Ingimar Bjarni Sverrisson Center Northern Arizona University; Vice- Marvi Gil President, USA Larissa Kyzer Guðrún Guðmundsdóttir, Project Lárus Jón Guðmundsson Manager, Íslenska auglýsingastofan Alison Barker, Project Manager and Lydia Wassan Producer for the non/fictionLab, RMIT Tinna Ásgeirsdóttir Gréta Ösp, Graphic Designer University, Australia Una Björk Kjerúlf Vignir Árnason Hagþenkir, the Association of Icelandic Laurel Fantauzzo, teaches at Yale-NUS Þór Fjalar Hallgrímsson Non-fiction Writers College, Singapore Þóra Hjörleifsdóttir 6 NonfictioNow Conference 2017 Keynote Speakers Gretel Ehrlich Aisha Sabatini Sloan Introduced by Nicole Walker, Introduced by Laurel Fantauzzo, Vice-President, NonFictioNOW Board Member, NonfictioNOW Friday, 2 June, 3:45–4:45pm Sunday, 4 June, 10–11am Silfurberg, Harpa Concert Hall Silfurberg, Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center and Conference Center Gretel Ehrlich is the author of 15 books, including the award- Aisha was born and raised in Los Angeles. Her writing about winning Solace of Open Spaces, This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons race and current events is often coupled with analyses of art, in Greenland and most recently, Facing the Wave, winner of the film, and pop culture. Her first essay collection, The Fluency PEN USA Nonfiction Award. Ehrlich’s work has been published of Light: Coming of Age in a Theater of Black and White, was in many magazines, including Harpers, The Atlantic, Orion, The published by the University of Iowa Press in 2013. Her new New York Times Magazine, Time, Life, Outside, and National essay collection,