Miss Iceland

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Miss Iceland, through both its gripping language and its romantic execution, leads us to believe that Hekla is our hero, and that we will follow her into greatness.

Hekla spends the majority of her time with either Isey or Jon John, listening to their plights and their misery; slowly being ground down by the realities of life for anyone who was not born male and heterosexual. In Iceland another volcano erupts and Hekla meets a poet who brings to light harsh realities about her art.Beyond this moment, however, we soon learn how Olafsdottir has tricked us, in much the same way that sexist societal norms have tricked Hekla. Miss Iceland is set in the 1960s, but much of the sexism experienced by its protagonists will be sorely familiar to contemporary readers. Most people in my life have never been so it's just my wife and I gushing back and forth to each other! While they’re pulling up their trousers, they make you swear three times that you won’t tell anyone.

Hekla’s kinship with Jón John grows from their shared feelings of alienation: hers from the Reykjavik poet café crowd and his from the masculine atmosphere on a recent trawler expedition.But the marvelous irony is that, yes, Hekla does get her story, her observations of Iceland, Denmark and the people around her, her feelings and her sense of dedication out into the world.

A stolid traditional farmer, his faith in his daughter’s literary ability and steadfast support is touching.

He yearns to make clothes and work in theatre but can only find work on fishing boats, where he’s hounded and harassed for his queerness. The winner was 21 year old Elísabet Hulda Snorradóttir, a second year student at the University of Iceland, majoring in Chinese Studies. Hekla and Jon John ultimately escape to Copenhagen and then to an undisclosed location in the south but find things only marginally better.

Add in a mix of volcanic history (with eruptions at sites we visited while in Iceland ourselves), dreams of fleeing what would have felt like an insular island to the glory of America or Europe, and you have yourself this memorable novel that is - at the end - bittersweet. Began 2023 the Miss Universe Iceland became the main title of Ungfrú Ísland titleholder after the organizers took over the defunct brand. This quietly moving tale of friendship and artistic fulfillment will appeal to readers of Elena Ferrante and Margaret Atwood, and the unusual setting offers an interesting twist on the portrait of an artist as a young woman. Sharing an apartment with her childhood and queer friend Jón John, Hekla comes to learn that she will have to stand alone in a small male dominated community that would rather see her win a pageant than be a professional artist.Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published. After a romance with a poet is spoiled by his jealousy over her talent, Hekla turns to her friends to envision a future of fulfillment. In her sixth novel, award-winning author Ólafsdóttir paints a vivid portrait of Iceland: cold weather, volcanic eruptions, northern lights, whale hunting, darkness, sexism, and homophobia.