With a population of about 320,000, Iceland has more books published and more books read per person than anywhere else in the world, according to a BBC report. One out of ten Icelanders will publish a book during their lifetime.
Despite its small size, Iceland can pride itself of a long-standing literary tradition, dating back to the 13th-century sagas, which represent a stronghold of Icelandic national identity. In more recent times, Icelandic literature came under the international spotlight when novelist Halldór Laxness was awarded the Nobel prize (1955). Nowadays, many Icelandic authors enjoy great success abroad and some of them are widely translated into other languages. Some examples are the crime authors Arnaldur Indriðason, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, and Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson – to mention but a few.
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