Orðstír, an honorary award for translations of Icelandic literature to a foreign language

The award is presented for an excellent translation of a work of Icelandic literature into another language, resulting in the increased renown of Icelandic literature abroad.

Orðstír Award is presented biannually, in conjunction with the Reykjavik International Literary Festival, by the President of Iceland at Bessastaðir, the presidential residence.

In 2023 two translators received the award; Jacek Godek from Poland and Luciano Dutra from Brasil.

Jacek Godek is a highly active Polish translator who has been translating from Icelandic into Polish for more than 50 years. He lived in Iceland as a child and attended both Melaskóli and Hagaskóli, but completed his matriculation exam in Poland. Of all the many works that Jacek has translated, we could poems by Jónas Hallgrímsson and the book of poems Frelsi (Freedom) by Linda Vilhjálmsdóttir, but that book in the Polish translation by Jacek won the European Poet of Freedom award in 2018. Jacek has been a powerful advocate of Icelandic literature in Poland and he has translated few dozen Icelandic novels to Polish.

Luciano Dutra is a powerful translator of Icelandic literature into Portuguese. He is from Brazil and first came to Iceland in 2002 to study Icelandic because he wanted to be able to communicate Icelandic medieval literature to his compatriots in Portuguese. He completed his studies in Icelandic and translation studies and has since translated numerous books into Portuguese, including books by Sjón, Einar Már Guðmundsson, Hugleikur Dagsson and Fríða Ísberg.

Orðstír is awarded by the Icelandic Literature Center, The Icelandic Association of Translators and Interpreters, Promote Iceland, the Office of the President of Iceland and the Reykjavik International Literary Festival.