Literary Sites: Reykjavik and New York

Reykjavik is known for many things: the bitter cold, the hard partying, and it's great literature. Wait... what?

That's right! Reykjavik is known for it's great literature. It has bore such works as:

• The Eddas - split into the Prose Edda and the Poetic Eddas. These are compilations of poems that serve as the greatest source of Norse mythology. 
• Independent People - written by Icelandic author, Halldór Laxness. He went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literarture in 1955 for his work.

Because of the above works and many others, Reykjavik was the first non-native English speaking city to receive the UNESCO City of Literature and the fifth in the world. 

"Reykjavík boasts a veritable abundance of literary riches, with our Icelandic medieval literature ranking amongst the world’s most important and culturally significant. Still read the world over, The Icelandic Sagas, which tell of extensive family disputes between blood-thirsty vikings, are a case in point. The Culture House exhibits some of the original medieval manuscripts, including the poetic Edda - the key to Nordic mythology - which is without doubt amongst the most important medieval literature specimens ever preserved. The Arnemagnean Manuscript Collection, also preserved in Reykjavík, was added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2009." 

To commemorate this, painted all over the city on walls, streets, buildings you'll find famous quotes from Icelandic literature.

You're able to get a closer look at a lot of these works of art in the Icelandic Culture House. This offers the best one-stop sightseeing of the greatest works of Icelandic literature from preserved Edds to Thor comics. 

If you'd like to continue your literature exploration of Iceland, the Reykjavik UNESCO literature site has set up a literary map and a literary walk and tails map. The walk and trail map is also an app available for download for iPhone and Android. 

You may be surprised to find that New York City is not considered a UNESCO City of Literature. This, of course, doesn't mean that there aren't some great literary sites to see once you're back home and looking to continue your literary travels around New York. 

One of the first places I'd recommend is to grab a drink at the famous Algonquin Hotel, where Dorothy Parker and the rest of her roundtable coterie held court and formed "The Vicious Circle."

After a few martinis, head over to Tiffany's and see the windows adored by Holly Golightly in Truman Capote's "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

Then Head on to Central Park and see the Bethesda Fountain featured in Tony Kushner's play, "Angels in America." 

For suggestions on other New York City literary sites, check out:

• Beats, bars, and books: Visiting the literary spots of New York City
• A Book Lovers Guide to New York City
• Walking Off The Big Apple - Literary New York

For further reading:
Reykjavik UNESCO City of Literature 
VisitReykjavik - UNESCO City of Literature 

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