by Sharron Arksey
Although the last print edition of The Icelandic Connection came out in the summer of 2023, the saga of the literary journal has not ended but is instead turning the page to a new chapter. That is good news for its readers.
The Icelandic Connection, originally called The Icelandic Canadian, saw its first issue in 1942. The quarterly publication was a project of the Icelandic Canadian Club of Winnipeg, which saw the need for a publication in the English language. Over the years, the journal would provide literature, poetry, essays and news for Western Icelanders in Canada and the United States. Archived issues are therefore an excellent source of reference material for family historians.
The journal was an almost exclusively volunteer effort, although the budget allowed for the covering of design and production costs. When existing editor Elin Thordarson resigned in 2023, the board made the difficult decision to curtail publishing in print form. One last print issue was completed with guest editor Sharron Arksey.
The journal was turned over to the University of Manitoba Icelandic Collection this past fall. It was decided to continue an annual open-access publication of the Journal online and to open the archive to the public. Advertisements have been discontinued and the focus of the journal will now be academic in nature with the intent to foster interest in Icelandic culture in North America amongst students at UM and other university institutions across Turtle Island and elsewhere.
This new Icelandic Connection can be found at https://icecanmag.com/ and it is free and open for anyone to access. Past issues are available in the archives and downloadable in PDF format.