Magnús Sigurðsson (b. 1984 in Ísafjöður) is an Icelandic poet and translator. His debut was a translation of Ezra Pound’s The Pisan Cantos into Icelandic, published by the University of Iceland Press in 2007. The translation was awarded the Student Service Scholarship and the Landsbanki Bank Stipend. Sigurðsson’s first book of poems, Fiðrildi, mynta og spörfuglar Lesbíu (2008), received the Tómas Guðmundsson Poetry Prize. In 2013, Sigurðsson received the prestigious Jón úr Vör Poetry Prize. Sigurðsson’s translations include a collection of poems by the Norwegian Tor Ulven, Steingerð vængjapör (2012), and a Spanish translation from the Icelandic, together with Laía Argüelles Folch, of Ingibjörg Haraldsdóttir’s seminal book of poems, La cabeza de la mujer (2011). This fall, Sigurðsson released a fourth book of poems, Krummafótur, and a translation of Adelaide Crapsey’s poetry, Bláar hýsintur.
» More about Magnús Sigurðsson
Meg Matich has received support for her literary translation work from PEN, Fulbright, the Icelandic Literature Center, and others, and frequently collaborates with UNESCO. She received a PEN/Heim Translation Prize for her translation of Magnús Sigurðsson’s Cold Moons (Phoneme Media, 2017), which composer David R. Scott subsequently translated into a choral symphony. In 2018, Meg translated an anthology in honor of the world’s first democratically elected woman president, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (2019), and collaborated with Sigurðsson on an Icelandic poetry anthology for the Cafe Review. Her translation of Þóra Hjörleifsdóttir’s Magma is forthcoming from Grove Atlantic (US) and Picador (UK), and her translation of Auður Jónsdóttir’s Quake is forthcoming from Dottir Press. She is the former director of The Poetry Brothel Reykajvik and producer of the upcoming immersive performance The Poetry Apothecary (Ljóðatek), in celebration of UNESCO Reykjavik’s ten-year anniversary. Her translations have appeared in or are forthcoming from PEN America, Exchanges, Words Without Borders, Asymptote, Gulf Coast, and others.
» More about Meg Matich
