Iceland - Alda Sigmundsdóttir

Where we stopped on our bookdrop tour

Jun 29, 2017 | Iceland | 1 comment

Around the middle of this month (June 2017) EPI and I embarked on our annual book drop tour. This is where we drive the Ring Road around the country, visit booksellers, and introduce any new books we have. Originally we had books in the car and dropped them off (hence...

On the Icelandic prime minister and his wife's offshore activities

Mar 31, 2016 | Iceland | 16 comments

I expect that, by now, many of you have heard about the scandal rocking Icelandic politics, that of our Prime Minister’s wife, Anna Sigurlaug Pálsdóttir, having an offshore company registered in Tortola – a notorious tax haven. Something that the PM, Sigmundur...

Black Friday comes to Iceland

Nov 27, 2015 | Iceland | 2 comments

Yesterday I was off on one of my book drop (distribution) runs around town, and along the way decided to stop off at a particular store to check out a piece of furniture we’ve been thinking of purchasing. I had a couple of questions about it, so approached a...

On the exodus from Iceland

Nov 12, 2015 | Iceland | 1 comment

You’ve seen the Internet memes, and possibly also Paul Krugman’s enthusiastic columns proclaiming Iceland the poster child of economic recovery. Having in 2008 suffered the biggest banking collapse in history relative to its economic size, Iceland has now...

A brief treatise on the Icelanders and their elf beliefs

Apr 7, 2015 | Iceland, Writing | 0 comments

I’m sure you have heard the stories: Icelanders believe in elves, won’t build anything without first checking whether there are elves living on the site, go around knocking on boulders to say hello to the elves, make whole entire maps of elf colonies, and...

Ding Dong! The Icesave Witch is Dead

Feb 1, 2013 | Iceland | 1 comment

I wrote this post for the Reykjavík Grapevine last Monday, after the Icesave verdict had been passed down but it didn’t make it into print. An almost palpable ripple of relief passed through Icelandic society at precisely 10.30 am on Monday, January 28, when...