So Your Character is From Iceland …

Two years today I celebrated my 26th birthday in Iceland and to this day it was my most epic birthday ever and I’m so happy to interview Lilja today about a country I fell in love with and still want to visit today! Since I went to Iceland a lot of the pictures will be some I took when I was there. 😀

So Your Character is … series is where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country or having a disability. I’m hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven’t checked out last time’s So Your Character is from Estonia… be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!

Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally or politically shocking to some. Each of these posts is as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.

(None of the Images are Mine)

Lilja Sigurdardóttir is an Icelandic crime-writer born in 1972. She is the author of eight crime novels, a successful stage play, and many screenplays for television, the latest of which is Katla, coming soon on Netflix. Lilja´s latest book out in English, Betrayal, is a standalone political thriller about a woman who takes on a ministerial role only to find out that politics is a dirty game and betrayal is everywhere. Lilja is on the writing team of the dark psychological sci-fi series Katla, which premiered on Netflix this spring.

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What do you feel is unique to your country? Landmarks? Celebrations?

Iceland is the youngest country in the world and that is the thing that makes it unique. As the country is situated on the rift of two tectonic plates the country is in fact being torn apart and in that way constantly growing. But there are growing pains as we are just seeing these days as when the tectonic plates rip apart, fire comes up! So right now we have an active volcanic eruption not far from our capital Reykjavík.

Tell me about your country’s environment. What are some of your favorite places?

Iceland is beautiful and strange. Sometimes you can feel like you are on the moon! The vast lava fields are scary black deserts but I feel they are magnificent. The absence of trees in vast areas of the country makes the landscapes so visible and it really doesn´t matter where is Iceland you are: you can always see a mountain.

Tell me about your country’s food. What are some of your favorite dishes?

Iceland has been very isolated through the centuries here up by the Arctic, so much of our traditional foods are very basic and old-fashioned (read: medieval!) We survived on fish and lamb and there are many delicious dishes made from these and a few that are maybe not so appetizing for most people. How does a seared sheepshead sound? Boiled with mashed potatoes. Or fermented shark? With a shot of brennivín. No? Okay then. Maybe our hot dog, pylsa “with everything” is more appetizing. It really is delish. No, really, it is.

Tell me about any different speech patterns in your country. Slang? Idioms? Words for things such as “biscuits” instead of “cookies”?

The Icelandic language is very old and hasn´t changed much for the last 1000 years. We can read our magnificent Sagas, medieval tales of settlement, clan disputes, and war, without a dictionary. Icelandic is under threat of extinction as we have only 330.000 speakers and with modern media, the younger people use English more and more.

Describe briefly a regular day in your country.

I guess people’s days in Iceland are as varied as the individuals but my day consists of writing, meetings with co-workers regarding my screenwriting, and tending to my family. Family is very important in Iceland and I guess most people try to meet up with their extended family as often as possible. For me, that means every week.

How does your country compare to others, especially the States since my audience is primarily American? Environmentally? Politically? Culturally?

We like to consider ourselves a Nordic Welfare State, although Iceland has never gotten as far towards that as the other Nordic countries. But our politics are mostly centered and everyone agrees on certain things like paying high taxes in return for getting free top-class healthcare, free education, free roads, very affordable childcare, and very good care for the elderly. This is a great equalizer so people are generally very healthy, well educated and we have a high level of gender equality and the world´s lowest infant death rate. We mostly think this is worth the taxes and pay them with pleasure as we get so much quality of life for them.

Briefly describe three of your country’s historical events that you feel are important.

Becoming an independent state in 1944. Until then we were a Danish colony and it was very important for the development of the nation and the country to get the rule of our own matters. Iceland used the opportunity when Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany and broke free. At the time we were Europe´s poorest nation. Now we are among the most prosperous.

What are some stereotypes about your country that irk you? What media portrays your country badly be it a movie, a book, or a TV show?

Well, I don´t know about that. I actually like it when Iceland and Icelanders are made fun of! I for example loved Will Ferrel’s Eurovision movie on Netflix. I thought it was hilarious.

What media portrays your country well be it a movie, a book, or a TV show?

I now have to blow my own trumpet and recommend that people read my books! Snare, Trap, and Cage is a trilogy of thrillers about a cocaine smuggler, a bankster, and a customs officer and it portrays the time after the 2008 financial meltdown. The books are now being turned into a series for tv. Betrayal is also a good read about Icelandic politics. And then I have to recommend Katla, a psychological Sci-Fi series coming soon on Netflix, where I am one of the writers. It is about people in a small village in South Iceland after a year of eruption in the neighboring Katla volcano.

Who are your top three favorite fictional characters native to your country in books, movies, or shows?

I would say Bjartur in Nobel Laureate Halldór Laxness’s book Independent People. He is an amazing character you both love and hate at the same time. I have been lucky enough to write a tv series from the book along with director Baltasar Kormákur and am always more and more astonished by the depth of the story.

I also love Andri the cop in the TV series Trapped. He feels so human and nice and you kind of side by him immediately, although you would in many cases do things differently from him!

I really like Halla, the main character in the amazing film Woman at War. She is an eco-terrorist fighting big companies she feels are exploiting the country and its resources. The film is fun and has great landscape filmography that is so worth watching.

Are you interested in participating in this project? Check out the tips archive to see which countries have been filled and if you’re from a different country, shoot me an email at howellvictoriagrace(a)gmail(dot)com. I’m especially looking for Cuba, Senegal, Belarus, Zimbabwe, and Laos.

Do you have any characters from Iceland? Did this inspire you to write an Icelandic character or set a book in Iceland? Are you from this or been to this country and you have further input? Feel free to share! Do you have any questions for Lilja? Be sure to thank them!