By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Update on a Season of Sales
Ffrom Stella Soffía Jóhannesdóttir at Reykjavík Literary Agency, we hear that there’s been an upswing in interest in Icelandic titles, following Sweden’s Göteborg Book Fair and Frankfurter Buchmesse in October. At the agency, Jóhannesdóttir is joined by Valgerdur Benediktsdottir and Thora Eiriksdottir, one busy trio this fall.
This jump in interest, Jóhannesdóttir tells us, has been “particularly strong in Hungary,” into which several books have been sold during the autumn. Among them:
Einar Lövdahl Gunnlaugsson’s book Crosswind was recently sold to the publishing house Cser.
Phantom by Ófeigur Sigurðsson was acquired by Polar Könyvek.
Lavaland by Steinunn Sigurðardóttir, which won the Icelandic Literary Prize in 2023, was sold to Typotex.
Guðmundur Andri Thorsson’s newly released A Day in the Lives was sold to Polar Könyvek, which had previously published his book, And the Wind Sees It All.
The publisher Gondolat acquired Vilborg Davíðsdóttir’s book Under Yggdrasil earlier this summer.
In Paris, Gallimard is also to publish Thorsson’s A Day in the Lives, having previously published both And the Wind Sees It All and Dignity.
And in Oslo, Kagge is to publish Hallgrímur Helgason’s trilogy, the “Sixty Kilo Saga.” Jóhannesdóttir points out that the Helgason trilogy’s sale to Kagge is significant “because the trilogy deals extensively with the shared history of Norwegians and Icelanders in Iceland.”
Kagge’s publishing director, Vidar Strøm Fallrø, has been particularly enthusiastic about getting the Helgason books into the hands of Norway’s readers, the trilogy having previously sold to:
Denmark: Lindhard & Ringhof
Germany: Tropen
France: Gallimard
Lithuania: Alma Littera
Russia: Gorodet
“Helgason recently returned from a tour of France,” Jóhannesdóttir says, “where he promoted Sixty Kilos of Sunshine, the first book in the series, and met readers at book signings in Paris and at the Les Boréales festival in Caen.”
Sales into Finland, Germany, Faroe Islands, and More
In Oslo, negotiations are in progress, Jóhannesdóttir says, on three titles from Stefán Máni’s crime series about detective Hörður Grímsson, already popular in Finland.
Stella Soffía Jóhannesdóttir
Also in Finland, Lilja Sigurðardóttir’s “Reykjavík Noir” trilogy is expected to be published in Finnish by Docendo, which has also released her “Áróra” series. Sigurdardottir is a hit among the Finns, who now have pushed her sales there past 100,000 copies. “Earlier this year,” Jóhannesdóttir says, “her books topped bestseller lists in Finland in both print and audiobook formats.”
In Germany, Margret Hoskuldsdottir’s crime novel In the Depths attracted significant attention in Germany and was sold to Dromer Knaur.
In the Faroe Islands, Sprotin has acquired four titles by Einar Már Guðmundsson—Icelandic Kings, Dogdays, Poetic Crimology, and Rightly Judged.
In the United States, Chad W. Post’s Open Letter Books in November acquired Steinunn Helgadóttir’s The Strongest Woman in the World.
Pedro Gunnlaugur Garcia’s novel Lungs continues its success, now set to be published in Spain by Anaya. While more markets are considering the book, previous translation-rights sales have included:
Brazil: Editora Nós
Portugal: Guerra e Paz Editores
France: Éditions Métailié
Germany: Hoffman und Campe
Poland: Poznańskie
In the United Kingdom, Arnaldur Indriðason’s popularity is continuing with sales of his latest title, an historical novel titled Journey’s End, based on the life of the poet Jonas Hallgrimsson 1807-1845). His 2021 historical novel, The King and the Clockmaker, is expected to be published by Christopher MacLehose’s Open Borders Press, while Indridason’s crime novels will continue to be published by Penguin Random House UK, Jóhannesdóttir says.
In Italy, Andri Snær Magnason’s short story collection, Sleep, My Love, has been published by Iperborea.
Lastly, Rán Flygenring’s book Volcano was recently published in Sweden (Opal) and Estonia (Nordur), and has been listed in the IBBY Honor List 2024 (International Board of Books for Young Readers). And Elves by Flygenring and Hjörleifur Hjartarson has just been released in Italy by Iperborea, reporting strong consumer interest.
Jón Gunnar Arnason’s 1989 ‘Sólfarið’ or ‘The Sun Voyager’ is on the Reykjavik waterfront, near the city center and Harpa Concert Hall. Image – Getty: Siyue Steuber
More from Publishing Perspectives on international translation and publication book rights is here, more on the Icelandic market is here, and our long-running Rights Roundup series is here.