SELFOSS
ICELAND
Iceland is certainly an ideal country for a book town – its population of 330,000 are the keenest readers in the world.
Although Selfoss (population: 6,500) is the largest urban area in southern Iceland, it only really became a town in the twentieth century following the building of a suspension bridge that helped to unite its disparate parts. Today, as well as an agricultural centre and a good base for exploring the surrounding countryside, it is home to many commuters who work in the nearby capital, Reykjavik.
Iceland is certainly an ideal country for a book town. Its population of 330,000 are the keenest readers in the world, with around one in ten people publishing a book. Public benches include audiobook barcodes, and the Icelandic Literature Centre offers state support for Icelandic literature (including in translation). The country is also well-suited to the secondhand book trade as re-publication, even of bestselling books, is uncommon.
The book town project Bókabæirnir austanfjalls (Booktowns Iceland) is still in its infancy – it only launched officially in 2014 – and is led in particular by the Sunnlenska bókakaffið bookshop-café (Austurvegur) and the Konubókastofan in Eyrarbakki, a ten-minute drive away. Sunnlenska is the only bookshop in southern Iceland and is as popular for its cakes and coffee as for its stock of books in Icelandic, English and other languages. The Konubókastofan is a museum that preserves and celebrates female Icelandic authors, while also opening its doors as a workspace for aspiring writers.
The plan is not to focus all activity on Selfoss but, as with Tvedestrand and the Bokbyen ved Skagerrak (Skagerrak Book Town), to build up a network of likeminded partners, including libraries, in the surrounding area. This includes Hveragerði, only 10km away and known for its geothermal park, which became an artists’ colony in the second half of the twentieth century. The annual children’s book festival is a good example of how this works well, with events across the whole region.
The dramatic Selfoss waterfalls.
Iceland’s Eymundsson bookshop chain is particularly busy during Jólabókaflóð – the Christmas Book Flood.
Hveragerði and Selfoss (where singer Björk had a holiday home for many years, and where world chess champion Bobby Fischer is buried) are popular destinations for tourists, but the organisers of Bókabæirnir austanfjalls are hoping that the book town will not only create employment and promote Icelandic language and literature, but also enourage visitors to spend more money at local businesses.
Jólabókaflóð – The Christmas Book Flood
The most popular time to publish books in Iceland is between October and Christmas. There are huge numbers of book-related events in the lead up to Christmas Eve, on which the exchange of books as presents has become an annual tradition. To help people choose, households are sent a free catalogue – Bokatidindi – which features all new publications.
The Sunnlenska bookshop and café.
Troll art located just outside of Selfoss.
The warming interior of Sunnlenska bookshop and café.
Directions to the cities of Hella and Selfoss in southern Iceland.