Launched by the Odessa UNESCO City of Literature and made possible through generous funding from Reykjavík City of Literature, the project “Poetry in the Cities of Literature” began on February 24, 2024, as part of the “Not Just Words” reading initiative initiated by Milano City of Literature. This new cultural endeavor aims to connect Odessa’s vibrant literary community with its sister Cities of Literature across the globe.
As a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network since 2019, Odessa has built meaningful relationships with fellow literary cities worldwide. This project marks a fresh step in that journey by introducing Odessans to contemporary poetry from these international partners, starting with Reykjavík, Iceland — the very city that made this exchange possible.
Reykjavík was designated a UNESCO City of Literature in 2011, becoming the first non-native English-speaking city to receive the title. Literature has been at the heart of Icelandic culture for over a thousand years, from the medieval sagas to today's exuberant literary scene.
Beyond promoting literary art, the initiative highlights the crucial support UNESCO Cities of Literature provide: from festival invitations and translation assistance to artist residencies. These connections help Ukrainian authors cross borders, find new audiences, and preserve their creative voices on the global stage. At its core, “Poetry in the Cities of Literature” is about mutual cultural enrichment — fostering an open exchange where books, ideas, and traditions travel freely, inspiring and uniting people worldwide.
Poet of the Reykjavik City of Literature:
Ingólfur Eiríksson (1994) is a novelist, poet and translator of Broadway musicals. He lives in Reykjavík where he teaches Icelandic as a second language.
Book of Poems (Ljóðabók)
Translated by Larissa Kyzer
I’ve promised myself
I’ll talk to you
once I’ve finished this book.
Every page
I turn
is a step
towards you.
Maybe
you’ll read me
likeanopenbook,
maybe
you’ll think me
weaned on the same texts
aseverybodyelse,
maybe
I’m just a blank cover.
But I’ve taken Reading 101
and I know that truth resides
betweenthelines.
It’s one of the few things I do know.
That and the fact that I own
far more books
than is entirely decent,
not least fourteen titles
I just bought this weekend,
much to my mother’s chagrin.
Hiding among the same rare books
you might conceivably be interested in.
E.g. translations of poems
by your favorite poet
(not that that’s why I bought them, I swear)
and philosophical writings
about the distance
that separates
us all.
I’ve been shelved
in the wrong place
and the national library catalog
says I’m lost,
but I’m not.
I’m just searching
for someone
to find me.
I hope it will be you.
Read me
like an open book,
I am filled with poetry.
We also happy to introduce you to the translator Larissa Kyzer:
Larissa Kyzer is a writer and Icelandic to English literary translator. In 2019, she was awarded the American Scandinavian Foundation’s translation prize. That same year, she was one of Princeton University’s Translators in Residence. Larissa has received grant funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fulbright Commission, the Icelandic Ministry of Education and Culture, the Icelandic Literature Center, and Finland’s Kone Foundation. She is a former co-chair of PEN America’s Translation Committee, an At-Large board member for ALTA, a member of the Translators Organizing Committee, and runs the virtual Women+ in Translation reading series Jill! For more: https://www.larissakyzer.com/
