German publishers have secured the rights to the most recent books of Icelandic authors Hallgrímur Helgason, who wrote 101 Reykjavík, and Gudrún Eva Mínervudóttir, who has been nominated for the Icelandic Literature Awards for her latest novel.
The publishing rights to Helgason’s novel, 10 rád til ad haetta ad drepa fólk og byrja ad vaska upp, which translates as, “10 pieces of advice to stop killing people and start doing the dishes,” have also been sold to Denmark.
According to Icelandic publisher Forlagid, German publishers entered a bidding war over Mínervudóttir’s Skaparinn (“The Creator”) until the publishing rights to the book were finally secured by btb, owned by Random House.
Mínervudóttir’s work has never been translated to German before, although her novels have been published in France, Italy and Denmark.
Icelandic authors have received considerable attention from German publishers lately, probably because Iceland will be the honorary guest at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2011.
Skaparinn will be released in Germany in 2011 and Helgason’s book in 2010.
