Hótel Saga on print
Translation: Árni Pétur Árnason
During the course On print (Icelandic Á þrykk), creative writing students and practical ediotorship and publishing students work together on a new book. This year’s theme is Hótel Saga and the students are currently knee-deep in writing original content and preparing it for publishing. The Student Paper talked to Heiða Vigdís Sigfúsdóttir, Birgitta Björk Bergsdóttir and Einar Kári Jóhannsson about the publishing process and the book that is now in the pipeline. Heiða Vigdís and Birgitta Björk are both Creative Writing students and Einar Kári is a teacher of the course as well as a publisher, literary scholar and a founder of the publishing house Una útgáfuhús.
Mynd: Mandana Emad
In the center of the whirlpool
When the interview is conducted, the publishing process is just about halfway there. “We are currently in the center of the whirlpool,” Heiða says and Birgitta agrees. In the coming weeks, they will do a lot of work in editing, proofreading, designing and laying out the book. “There are a lot of details one must think about, for example choosing the paper and contemplating the size and placement of text on the page,” Birgitta says. There is a lot to do in a short amount of time. “We are really coming to an agreement on a joint project in a very short amount of time. And that includes all the practical elements as well; we are creating the text whilst bringing in money and creating the right atmosphere,” Heiða says regarding the publishing process, financing the book and marketing it.
The home of countless tales
In contrast to the editions of the last three years, which were all short story collections, this year’s book contains stories as well as poems. “The only rule the authors have to follow is the word count,” Einar Kári explains. But where does the theme, Hótel Saga, come from? “When we were choosing the theme, the hotel was constantly in the news. It had recently been closed and the University of Iceland was about to buy the building,” Heiða says. Therefore, it seemed appropriate to write about the historic building. “The hotel is full of stories that can be told from different vantage points. One could, for example, write about kings and queens, vagabonds, servants, musicians, partiers, staff, ghosts, dementors, flies… and mold.” “And the personifications of all kinds of things, and the hotel itself,” Birgitta adds. In the book, there are, in addition to other stories, stories of love and violence, secret meetings between lovers and funeral receptions. The characters often eat at Grillið, which was a restaurant on the hotel’s top floor, as well. There is still an operating hair salon at the hotel as well as a post office, a spa, band, bookstore and a publishing house. The building is therefore a unique world of its own and a source of countless tales. It was, until recently, the property of the National Farmers Union, and as such was often called the Farmers’ Hall, so its history is characterized by a lot of politics as well.
A unique atmosphere drips from the walls
Throughout the publishing process, students have conducted numerous explorations around the building. “We have often wandered around the empty hotel and watched as people carried furniture outside and labeled all kinds of things for auctions. Sometimes it’s a bit like walking through a haunted house,” Heiða says. “There is some kind of a unique atmosphere that drips from the walls,” Einar Kári adds. He also mentions that the hotel has hitherto not played a big role in Icelandic literary history. “There’s something foreign about the hotel. It was built at a certain time in history so that we could aggrandize ourselves as a nation on the international stage and invite queens to stay there when they visited the country.”
Mynd: Mandana Emad
It is a challenge to write an original text in a short amount of time
This year’s theme is clearly defined and so the authors must write new material from scratch for the publication. According to Birgitta and Heiða, this is one of the main challenges in the making of the book. “In this short amount of time, from January to March, we must write something completely new, finish it up and send it into the cosmos,” Heiða says and points out as well that there are also some advantages to the process being so fast paced. “In some ways it’s good for the ego, we only have this short amount of time to write and after that, you can’t change anything.” There is still a difference though in how you write when you know the text you’re writing will be published in print soon versus only writing for yourself or the desk drawer. “You know that whatever you are writing will be published in a book and with that, there comes some pressure,” Birgitta says. “The only thing to do is to “drop the ego”. You can’t think too much about what other people will think,” Heiða says.
Creative writing gives young authors a chance to write
The main thing that the course On print shows is probably how important the collaboration between author and editor is in the making of a book. In addition, one cannot forget designers, layout people, proofreaders and publishers. “You often hear old ideas that authors just sit alone in the corner and write,” Heiða says. This is however rarely the case. “The program is really important for the connections,” Birgitta agrees. “We often meet at cafés and write together even though each of us is working on their own material.” Students of Creative Writing thus not only get a chance to write but also, as Einar Kári points out, opportunities to share and discuss their projects with others.
Most people likely know the scene from Einar Már Guðmundsson’s book Angels of the Universe (1993) in which three residents of the Kleppur mental institution eat at Grillið Restaurant at Hótel Saga. A movie based on the novel debuted in 2000, directed by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson. It’s safe to say that this scene is one of the most well known in Icelandic literary and film history. The following quote is from the book.
“There was chattering in the air and soft classical music, the women elegantly adorned like objects d’art, the men jolly and animated. There was nothing more natural than this world, the city lights tiny dots outside. We were on a higher plan. [...] We were halfway through our cigars and had drunk five brandies each when the waiter came over and Viktor handed him the piece of paper that he had scribbled something down on, and which looked like a signed cheque. The waiter took the piece of paper as if expecting to see a cheque as well. Then I saw him stiffen up, his eyes rolling around in his head. He turned around and marched towards the kitchen, holding the piece of paper in his hand. On it, Viktor had written: ‘We are all inmates at the psychiatric hospital. Please call the police immediately. That was an exceptionally fine meal.’”