Iceland’s Troubadour Takes His Love Song Around The Globe
Hörður Torfason is not a man known for sitting back and taking a break. In his youth he became an accidental standard-bearer for gay rights in Iceland; to a different […]
Everyone Loves An Underdog
So, to coin an Olympian metaphor: Is Iceland really bouncing back? Short answer: Maybe yes, maybe no. They sure are good at handball, but they did lose in the quarterfinals. [&hell
Reykjavík: The Launder-Less City
While my experience in Reykjavík for the last three months has been mostly positive, one part about the city makes living here tiresome at times. It’s what many likely consider
You Can’t Always Go Downtown
Sun peers through the large windows at Hressó on Andri Valgeirsson, shining on his transition lenses and heavy 5 o’clock shadow. He sometimes comes to Hressó when he’
You Read This Article Before It Was Cool
In the last issue of Grapevine, self-identified hipster Atli Bollason recounts in his article, “Confessions of a Hipster,” his discovery of hipsterdom and then defends hipsters
Truth Costs
A legal maelstrom that made its way all the way to the European Court of Human Rights erupted after journalists Björk Eiðsdóttir and Erla Hlynsdóttir were charged with defamati
Four Medals in 104 Years
Since the Olympic Games were revived in 1896, Icelandic sportsmen have faced a lack of funds, lack of nationhood and general lack of population. Even so, we have managed four [&hel
News In Brief: August Edition
Bad news if you plan to live in a retirement home in Iceland: the nursing home Hrafnista was denied an alcohol licence, which means that the facility cannot sell even […]
So What’s This Icelandic Handball Team I Keep Hearing About?
Icelanders as a nation have never had very many great athletes, just as one would expect of a country of some three hundred thousand people. Sure, there have been a […]
Not This Year: Iceland’s Olympians
When Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson was doorstepped by international reporters in London last week, he must have struggled to hide a wide smile of relief. For the first time in years, [&
Bouncing Back
Last Wednesday was a sad, sad day in Iceland. Our esteemed handball team lost to Hungary in the quarterfinals during second overtime. This required us to rewrite four articles in [
Sour Grapes & Stuff
Dear Grapevine, First of all, thanks for being an excellent read. Without wishing to make it sound likeexaggerated flattery, I am often quite impressed by the quality of the writin
Freedom Of Speech, For Europeans Only
Spring Parliament usually gets crammed with tons of legislative proposals from the government. But out of all the bad ideas to hit Alþingi’s floor during its last session, the p
As Crowds (And Sponsors) Multiply, Pride Politics Take A Backseat
Even before they reach Iceland’s shore, foreign visitors will feel the gay pride fervour that will sweep Reykjavík August 7 to 12. Flight attendants on Iceland Express, the coun
NATURAL TRANSITION
On June 27, the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a landmark occasion for human rights took place in Iceland as a bill protecting the rights of transgender people came into [&hel
Icelanders, Stop Fucking With Football!
I was in Iceland for five months last year. While I greatly enjoyed my time working for the Reykjavík International Film Festival and travelling around the island, I sorely missed
Working On Digital Boundary Lines
By now most, if not all, Icelanders know the work of Egill Sæbjörnsson (and quite a few people abroad). Since breaking into the Icelandic art scene in the late nineties […
Cramming Glitter And Glam Into Harpa
A drag queen named Jennifer Hudson Obama, clutching a red dildo like a microphone, captured the hearts of judges last year to win the Icelandic Drag Competition. This year, the [&h
The Iceland Diet
In England (where I’m from) if you want cheap food you go to Asda, and if you want cheap beer you go to a Wetherspoons pub. Easy enough. When I […]
Confessions Of A Hipster
I became a hipster around the turn of the century. I was just a teenager but as my inauguration into Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð (the ‘lefty/arty’ college in Reykja
School For The Rest Of Us: The Radical Summer University
“The Radical Summer University” (Róttæki sumarháskólinn) is being held again. Only in its second year, the school has received a positive response from students of all ages