did you get a book for christmas?

​We asked our Special Advisor on Icelandic Literature Tina Flecken about her thoughts of the very special relationship of books and Christmas in Iceland.
Here is her answer:
 
The „Book Flood of Christmas“ or as the Icelanders say „Jólabókaflóðið“ 
 
The time around Christmas offers many challenges to the Icelanders. Besides Christmas preparations and Christmas shopping there is another very Icelandic facet to the time around the Advent! We are of course talking about the „Book Flood of Christmas“. Most of the published books in Iceland appear in November and December. Cafés, bookshops even schools invide for public readings. Everybody is talking about the ​

(Foto G. Richter) 

new publications of their favorite authors. There is a huge mountain of books to choose from but luckily the publisher send a brochure called „bókartíðindi“ in each and every household with a complete list of all the new publications. A wonderful service and so it comes to no suprise that there is at least one book underneath each christmas tree. In December nominations for the annual Literature Price are announced – leading to often hot debates about the candidates among their fans. In the beginning of the New Year the Winner is announced. This year´s nominees for the price include Auður Jónsdóttir, Einar Már Guðmundsson, Hallgrímur Helgason, Hermann Stefánsson and Jón Kalman Stefánsson. All of these authors have published books in German and some in English as well!