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Minister of Education Thorgerdur Katrín Gunnarsdóttir formally opens the eighth annual Reykjavík International Literature Festival at a special ceremony held at the Nordic House Sunday.
The festival is the largest held so far and will last until September 15.
During the opening ceremony Icelandic author Thor Vilhjálmsson and South African Nobel Literature Prize winner John Maxwell Coetzee will give speeches and baritone Bergthór Pálsson and pianist Nína Margrét Grímsdóttir will perform.
Twenty-one foreign and ten Icelandic authors will participate in the festival, along with publishers and translators from different countries.
Apart from Coetzee, the most notable participant is Hirsi Ali, famous for criticizing the situation of women in Islamic countries. Ali was chosen as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.
Visiting authors will be interviewed in the Nordic House between 12 noon and 1 pm and 2 pm and 3 pm throughout the festival week and all participating authors will read passages from their books at Idnó in downtown Reykjavík after 8 pm.
Lectures on literature will be held in the facilities of the University of Iceland.
The festival is open for everyone and admission is free.
Click here to read the program.
Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson is meeting with Prime Minister of Sweden Frederik Reinfeldt today, 
A three-meter long walrus was discovered on the shores by Eyri in the town of Reyðarfjörður in East Iceland yesterday.
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In 1915, women aged 40 and over were granted the right to cast a vote in all official elections held in Iceland.
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Four Icelandic contestants will participate in this year’s World Skills International, the world cup for industrial- and vocational subjects. The competition is held every other year.
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The 2013 June-July issue of Iceland Review is out. Themed ‘We Are Young’ the magazine celebrates the arrival of summer by interviewing young energetic Icelanders who excel in art, sports, business and politics—and Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, the youngest PM in the republic’s history and the world’s youngest ruling state leader. Click here to take a look at a selection of the current issue and here to subscribe to the magazine.
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amiina
The road to Höfn, a 1,690-person harbor town by the fjord Hornafjörður, is lined with reindeer. Whole herds of the wild horned animals rest peacefully on withered pastures, grace next to sheep and horses and bounce along the road. Soon, Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier and the region’s biggest attraction, comes into view. Looming over Höfn, its outlet glaciers flow down from the mountains on which the bright white icecap rests.
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Sin Fang will celebrate the release of his third album with a release concert in Iðnó on June 12. Flowers was released in February by Morr Music and has been well received by music enthusiasts and critics alike. The concert will be supported by Vök, this year’s winners of the Icelandic Music Experiments.
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