ABOUT ÓS PRESSAN

Ós Pressan is a non-profit initiative designed to bring out and promote new authors, to create an inclusive writing community and to challenge the reality of the publishing industry in Iceland.

 

In the ongoing social change in Iceland, where over 10% of the population was born in another country, we identified a tremendous gap between the current social reality and the literary-publishing scene. The absence of representation of foreign-born writers brought us to a wider and more inclusive idea: the margins of the Icelandic society and literature, the voices that are not being heard. We want to explore this area, bring out and promote new authors, offer them the opportunity to be heard and create a community addressing this social and cultural change.

 

The Ós writing community started in early 2015 during a workshop celebrating the 

100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote in Iceland and is dedicated to 

gathering writers from the margins of Icelandic society and bringing them into Iceland´s rich literary scene.

 

The Icelandic word Ós refers to the estuary or delta of a river - a spot where one river becomes many or many become one before entering the ocean. Move the accent and, in English, O's becomes the sound of delight and surprise upon discovering something new. Accent to the right again and it becomes Oś, the Polish word for axis. 

Anna Valdís Kro
Anna, a kindergarten teacher from Iceland, has been writing since she was young. She writes short stories, lyrics, and poems. Anna writes for children and adults in different types of languages.
Beatriz Portugal
A Brazilian living in Iceland, Beatriz works as a freelance journalist when not developing her fiction writing. She writes mostly prose.
Ewa Marcinek
Author of numerous projects in culture and education. A Pole, writing in English, while polishing her Icelandic.
Friðrik Agni Arnason
A dancer since 4, it is still a large part of my life. At the age of eight I wrote my first love poem, it was about a girl called María. Today I am in a homosexual marriage. I still write about love.
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Elena Ilkova
A Macedonian living in Iceland, she discovered translingual literature during her masters studies at the University of Iceland and has adopted its poetics in her writing in English, Icelandic and Hebrew.
Randi W. Stebbins
Founding member of Ós Pressan. Several languages, several careers and several countries have shaped Randi’s views of the world and of words.
Virginia Gillard
Virginia is a performer born in Britain, brought up in Australia and living in Iceland. She creates vignettes and playful drawings, patterns that represent her eternal search for home and the perfect character.
Lara Wilhelmine Hoffmann
Scholar and learner interested in art (,) books and language(s).
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Agata Wisniewska
Agata is. Agata è. Agata er. Agata jest.
angela rawlings
Canadian/Icelandic author and artist. Facilitated the Reykjavík Multilingual Writing Lab which led to the founding of Ós Pressan.
Mica Allan
Lover of words, all things water and Darjeeling tea, Mica runs her own writing, marketing and communications training company “Bloom Training.”
Lára Kristín Sturludóttir
Lára er fædd og uppalin á Íslandi og býr í Reykjavík. Frá 2006 hefur Lára skrifað stutta prósa og ljóð. Hún hefur tekið þátt í ýmsum ritsmiðjum, þar á meðal ritsmiðju Reykjavíkurborgar og Unesco 2015.
Kristján Jóhann Kristjánsson
Icelandic in his mind, Spanish in his heart, Kristján discovered writing late in life and in neither of the languages above. Suffice to say Krissi may have an identity issue, but he definitely wouldn't want it any other way.
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Larissa Kyzer
Itinerant Icelandic translator, writer, and librarian, who lived in Reykjavík for five years while studying contemporary Icelandic literature and completing a Master’s in Translation Studies. She’s currently on the move.
Helen Cova
Helen Cova is a published writer and the current president of Ós Pressan. Her first children’s book was published in 2019 in Icelandic, English and Spanish. She is currently working on her second book. Helen is deeply involved in the cultural and literary scene in Iceland where, by the hand of Ós Pressan, she focuses on integration and children. When Helen is not writing she is creating and playing board games, travelling on bike and reading.
Past board members
Founding and board members who donated their time and creative energy to Ós Pressan in the past.
Juniper Francalanza
Juniper Francalanza is an American Maltese, who has studied human migration and has a passion for the handcraft arts. She is also the mother of four.
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Friðrik Agni Arnason

A dancer since 4, it is still a large part of my life. At the age of eight I wrote my first love poem, it was about a girl called María. Today I am in a homosexual marriage. I still write about love.