The nominees for the Nordic Council's Literature Prize of 2012 were recently announced. Fourteen works of literature are nominated this year, their authors hailing from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Greenland, The Faeroe Islands, Åland, the arctic Saami language region and, of course, Iceland. Iceland's two champions are Gerður Kristný's book-length poem Blóðhófnir and Bergsveinn Birgisson's novel Svar við bréfi Helgu (A Reply to Helga's Letter).

Of course this year's prize winner, Gyrðir Elíasson, is also Icelandic. But in the history of the Nordic Council's Literature Prize it has been claimed by the same country twice in a row on more than one occasion. More than two, in fact. Also more than three. So, statistically at least, there is hope. Aesthetically, on the other hand, hope ignores statistics ninety percent of the time.

Blóðhófnir received the Icelandic Literature Prize of 2011. In the poem, Gerður retells the old norse Skírnismál through the point of view of Gerd, the troll maiden sold and betrothed to Skírnir. Svar við bréfi Helgu was also nominated for the prize, and both books were critical darlings in the winter of 2010. Bergsveinn's novel takes the form of a letter from an old farmer to his mistress of many years past. By no means heavy on plot, the novel is a nostalgic description of "coveting thy neighbour's wife", combining equal parts shame, sunshine and testosterone. These Icelandic nominees are quite different but they share a similar contradiction: Blóðhófnir being a lengthy yet terse poem, while Svar við bréfi Helgu might be described as a short but somewhat verbose.

Gerður Kristný's Blóðhófnir has been published in Danish translation by Forlaget Vandkunsten under the title Blodhingst. View her other translated works and such on her page here on literature.is.

Svar við bréfi Helgu has been published in German translation by Steidl Gerhard Verlag under the title Paarungszeit. This is the only foreign translation of Bergsveinn's work published as of yet, but his Icelandic writings are on record on his page here on literature.is.