Birna Anna Björnsdóttir
@birnaanna.bsky.social
📤 1465
📥 313
📝 474
Writer. Icelander in New York.
pinned post!
Jolabokaflodid is an Icelandic phenomenon where most of the year's books are published in the run up to Christmas, books being an essential Xmas gift. I wrote about this in
@mcsweeneys.net
Quarterly Concern, Issue 15, 2005. An online version was later republished here
przekroj.org/en/art-stori...
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The Season of Jólabókaflóðið - Przekrój.org
We sometimes claim that everyone in Iceland is a writer. Sure, it’s hyperbole, and as such slightly out of character for a literary tradition long characterized by understatement and restraint. Still,...
https://przekroj.org/en/art-stories/the-season-of-jolabokaflodid/
about 1 year ago
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Thrilled to see my cousin
@hildur.bsky.social
‘s novel in one of my all time favorite bookstores, Three Lives & Company in New York City.
about 24 hours ago
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Icelandic uses various animal poop in insults. Examples: Sparðatíningur (lamb poop picking) = you’re nitpicking. Kríuskítur (arctic tern poop) = you’re super pale. Tittlingaskítur (small bird poop) = doesn’t matter/small fry. Taðskegglingur (horse poop beard) = you’ve such a bad/nonexistent beard.
add a skeleton here at some point
2 days ago
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reposted by
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir
In Icelandic we say óþekktarormur for a bad child, it means badly behaved worm. But then we use ormur, worm, for short, which usually just means child, and can even be affectionate.
15 days ago
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reposted by
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir
Hin óviðjafnanlega íslenska vetrarsól - Winter’s sun in Iceland
about 1 month ago
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Er ekki að segja að símar hafi komið í staðinn fyrir sígarettur en halló hvað er þétt fylgni á milli þess að fólk hætti að reykja og fór að skrolla í símunum sínum. Sama dæmið, eitthvað að gera með höndunum, og róa taugarnar, og vera ekki vandræðaleg á almannafæri, halló!
20 days ago
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Ég að útskýra handbolta fyrir Ameríkönum: It's kindof like a mix of soccer and basketball, but a bit more violent.
20 days ago
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Another record I did not know we had: "In Iceland, the country with the world’s highest density of public bathrooms, there were 56 per 100,000 people, according to a 2021 report"
@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/n...
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Mamdani Announces Plan to Expand Public Bathroom Access in New York
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/nyregion/mamdani-public-bathrooms-nyc.html?searchResultPosition=3
22 days ago
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reposted by
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir
A huge component of imposter syndrome is overestimating how qualified everyone else is.
4 months ago
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Klígjulegt orðalag, skal byrja: Að kalla bækur konfekt.
23 days ago
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Seltjarnarnes, Iceland.
26 days ago
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Jæja krakkar, hvað eru sætu dýrin ykkar að gera núna? Hér er minn litli Latte:
29 days ago
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Hin óviðjafnanlega íslenska vetrarsól - Winter’s sun in Iceland
about 1 month ago
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January 2nd, 12:30pm, Iceland.
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir
We all know about New Year’s Day, but then there is Old Year’s Day which is what December 31st is called in Iceland, aka gamlársdagur.
about 1 month ago
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The sun at its highest point, noon on December 30th, Seltjarnarnes, Iceland.
about 1 month ago
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We all know about New Year’s Day, but then there is Old Year’s Day which is what December 31st is called in Iceland, aka gamlársdagur.
about 1 month ago
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Christmas Day, noon, Iceland.
about 1 month ago
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Laufabrauð er snakk jólanna.
about 1 month ago
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“Það er kolvitlaust veður bara.”
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir
Winter solstice, noon, Iceland.
about 2 months ago
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Winter solstice, noon, Iceland.
about 2 months ago
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Luddite as word of the year for 2025.
about 2 months ago
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Ein skemmtilegasta vinna sem ég hef nokkurntímann verið í (ég er 👵🏻 og hef verið í mörgum vinnum) er afgreiðsla í bókabúð á annasamri jólavertíð. Kaupa bækurnar í bókabúðum krakkar!
about 2 months ago
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Stúfur kemur í kvöld.
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir
“She will throw her phone in the river. She can’t love both her job and Christmas.” Evergreen from
@mcsweeneys.net
🎄
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/gui...
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Guidelines for Female Protagonists in Hallmark Christmas Movies
She must be a high-powered career woman living in a major metropolitan area She was born in a small town, but she must move to the big city to bec...
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/guidelines-for-female-protagonists-in-hallmark-christmas-movies
2 months ago
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Giljagaur kemur í kvöld.
about 2 months ago
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PSA. Fyrsti jólasveinninn kemur í kvöld.
about 2 months ago
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90s trend sem hefur ekki komið til baka og er það vel því það er óafturkræft. Að ofplokka augnabrúnir. Margar gellur x-kynslóðar eru enn þann dag í dag að súpa seyðið af þessum mistökum.
about 2 months ago
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8 stiga frost í New York í morgun. Allir bara, þetta er þitt veður! Ég, það er 6 stiga hiti í Reykjavík núna. ❄️❄️❄️
about 2 months ago
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90s trend sem hefur ekki komið til baka og mun aldrei og er það mögulega mesta tískuframför síðari tíma: pinnahælar á djamminu, sama hvað, líka um miðjan vetur i Reykjavík.
about 2 months ago
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90 trend sem hefur aldrei komið til baka. Að setja meik á varirnar þannig að þær hverfa beinlínis inn í húðina. Lipless var þetta stundum kallað.
about 2 months ago
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“She will throw her phone in the river. She can’t love both her job and Christmas.” Evergreen from
@mcsweeneys.net
🎄
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/gui...
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Guidelines for Female Protagonists in Hallmark Christmas Movies
She must be a high-powered career woman living in a major metropolitan area She was born in a small town, but she must move to the big city to bec...
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/guidelines-for-female-protagonists-in-hallmark-christmas-movies
2 months ago
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“while the misogyny is hard to banish, so is the resistance to it.”
@rtraister.bsky.social
www.thecut.com/article/why-...
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Me Too Forever
Why the backlash was so short-lived.
https://www.thecut.com/article/why-the-me-too-backlash-was-so-short-lived.html?utm_source=nymag_app_article_share
2 months ago
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reposted by
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir
Nobody does it better than McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern
@mcsweeneys.net
2 months ago
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Nobody does it better than McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern
@mcsweeneys.net
2 months ago
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Post a famous bathroom scene
add a skeleton here at some point
2 months ago
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reposted by
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir
🇫🇴 Færeyjar eiga séns á að komast á HM!
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/w...
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This Scrappy Soccer Team Has a Cinderella Chance at Making the World Cup
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/world/europe/this-scrappy-soccer-team-has-a-cinderella-chance-at-making-the-world-cup.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
3 months ago
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🇫🇴 Færeyjar eiga séns á að komast á HM!
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/w...
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This Scrappy Soccer Team Has a Cinderella Chance at Making the World Cup
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/world/europe/this-scrappy-soccer-team-has-a-cinderella-chance-at-making-the-world-cup.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
3 months ago
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We'll now have to retire the popular Icelandic saying: At least we don't have mosquitoes.
www.cnn.com/2025/10/21/c...
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Iceland just found its first mosquitoes | CNN
Iceland’s frozen, inhospitable winters have long protected it from mosquitoes, but that may be changing. This week, scientists announced the discovery of three mosquitoes — marking the country’s firs...
https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/21/climate/iceland-mosquito-discovery
4 months ago
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A huge component of imposter syndrome is overestimating how qualified everyone else is.
4 months ago
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Varúð boomer rant 👵🏻 Eitt af þreytandi einkennum nútímans er að talað er um tölvur og kerfi eins og þau hafi sjálfstæðan vilja og séu fær um að bera ábyrgð. Og mannfólkið (sem ber jú fulla ábyrgð á kerfunum!) ypptir bara öxlum og firrir sig ábyrgð. Og alltof margir gleypa við!
4 months ago
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Nobody’s house is in the middle of the street anymore and that’s sad.
add a skeleton here at some point
5 months ago
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The arctic tern flies from Iceland to Antarctica and back every year. It finds its same nesting ground each time. It can become 30 years old, so in its lifetime an arctic tern flies = from the earth to the moon three times. A tern weighs 120 grams, less than a mini can of soda.
5 months ago
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reposted by
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir
Kári Tulinius
5 months ago
Hey! Leiðist þér í vinnunni á mánudegi? Langar þig að litast um í öðru lífi? Það er komið út nýtt tölublað af Stelk með smásögum eftir Pétur Gunnarsson, Soffíu Bjarnadóttur, Helga Ingólfsson og Birgittu Björg Guðmarsdóttur. Njótið!
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Stelkur – Smásagnavefrit
https://stelkur.is
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reposted by
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir
Orðalag/orðtök sem voru í daglegri notkun fyrir einhverjum árum en eru minna notuð núna: Hvað ætlaði ég að segja en ekki þegja ...
5 months ago
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Orðalag/orðtök sem voru í daglegri notkun fyrir einhverjum árum en eru minna notuð núna: Hvað ætlaði ég að segja en ekki þegja ...
5 months ago
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reposted by
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir
I’ve preordered this book by my cousin (!)
@hildur.bsky.social
and I advise you to do the same!
add a skeleton here at some point
5 months ago
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I’ve preordered this book by my cousin (!)
@hildur.bsky.social
and I advise you to do the same!
add a skeleton here at some point
5 months ago
1
5
1
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