Skafti Þ Halldórsson

1) What makes a good review?

What characterizes a good critic is first and foremost the dual role he has to play by being both critical and constructive. I see my writing as a discourse about a literary text, not as a one-sided judgment. I address the author and the reader at the same time but I also have to keep in mind that as a journalist I am responsible for presenting the book I am writing about. Apart from a few websites and Morgunblaðið, the newspaper I write for, no other media discuss specific publications, except just before Christmas. This makes the presentation even more important.

2) Which of your own reviews do you like best?

I have probably written approximately 300-350 reviews if you include everything, and it is therefore difficult to answer such an extensive question. However, there are two reviews which I value highly. One is a review which deals with translations of poetry by one of our best translators, Geir Kristjánsson, most of them from Russian (Ahkmatova, Majakovskí, Évtúsjenkó, Voznésénskí etc.). This was the first review I wrote for Morgunblaðið. The other is a review of Kristín Ómarsdóttir’s novel I’ll Die, my Love (Min elskede jeg dør).

3) What do you like reading yourself?

I am a literary omnivore and gave up dividing literature into imaginative and light literature a long time ago. I am a great admirer of poetry but I also enjoy a good novel, or a good fantasy or crime novel, if I haven’t got anything else at hand.

Skafti Þ. Halldórsson
(born 1951) holds a B.A. in literary history and Icelandic literature from the University of Iceland, completed in 1976 and 1977. Since 1991 Skafti has worked as a critic for Morgunblaðið, the biggest newspaper in Iceland, where he has written primarily about Icelandic poetry. In addition to his work as a critic he has published articles on Icelandic poetry and worked for the promotion of poetry in Iceland and abroad.