This interested me (from the SF Site News website, note the ***):
“The winner of this year’s Philip K. Dick Award for Best original paperback publication was announced at Norwescon on March 29. The P. K. Dick Award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust.
This year’s judges were Bruce Bethke, Sydney Duncan, Daryl Gregory, Bridget McKenna, and Paul Witcover.
Winner: “Lost Everything”, by Brian Francis Slattery
*** Special Citation: “Lovestar”, by Andri Snær Magnason ***
While not exactly winning, a Special Citation seems good enough, and AFAIK the first major recognition of an Icelandic SF/F writer anywhere.
Congrats to Mr. Magnason!
Iceland is known as a very literary nation. They do their darndest to keep their language as close as possible to the old Norse language, so they can read the old Viking sagas in the original (which unfortunately makes it deviate from other Scandinavian languages, so when I meet an Icelander we have to speak English, or he/she may perhaps know Danish). I don’t know if it is an urban legend, but it is said that 10% of the Iceland population (of circa 300,000) are published authors…
But there’s no fandom there. Yet. On the Eurocon in Stockholm 2011 I talked with Emil P from Iceland (living in Sweden) and he said there were thoughts on starting an Icelandic SF/F society. I haven’t heard any more news about it, though.
Andri Snær Magnason : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andri_Sn%C3%A6r_Magnason
