Reykjavik Requiem

Reykjavík Requiem, the third in a trilogy of
poetic sequences focusing on violence to women
by the outstanding Icelandic poet, Gerður
Kristný, is the harrowing story of a woman
who was abused as a child by her brother in a
small Icelandic village. The woman in question,
surrounded by a society that was not prepared
to hear what she had to tell and unable to find
the words to give an account of her suff ering,
took her own life and it was left to the poet to
give her a voice.

The story that Gerður Kristný presents, in
powerful, razor-sharp language within a formal
poetic structure, is a dark and compelling one.
It is told, almost sung, in the voice of a being that
inhabits the mysterious and murky territory that
lies between our world and that which lies
beyond, and is a requiem, not only for one dead
woman but for all women who have died as a
result of physical abuse, and whose stories have
never been heard.

ISBNs:
978 1910345 01 6 (pbk)
978 1910345 02 3 (ebk)
Published August 2020

» About Gerður Kristný