Iceland Summer

An island is a world out of time and place, separated by literal and figurative oceans, where the confines of reality are tenuous and magic may be possible. Iceland-with its relative isolation, enchanting mythologies, creative people, and the otherworldly wild beauty of its glaciers, geysers, volcanos, and fjords-encompases this special magic in the minds of many, including writer Kurt Caswell.

Vividly illustrated by Julia Oldham, Iceland Summer (fermented grain mash) and pylsur (Icelandic hot dogs), he explores the Hornstrandir peninsula, walks to the famed Dettifoss waterfall, waits for a glimpse of the lake monster Lagarfljtsormurinn at Egilsstair, visits the world’s only penis museum, and pays homage to centuries of Icelandic literary tradition at the rni Magnsson Institute.

Writing in the tradition of other pairs who have traveled in Iceland, like W. G. Collingwood and Jn Stefnsson, and W. H. Auden and Louis MacNeice, Caswell meditates on the value of wild places in the modern world, travel as both pastime and occupation, the nature of friendship, and walking, food, and literature. Scott is the Sancho Panza to Caswell’s Don Quixote, offering a ribald humor that grounds Caswell’s flights into the romantic. The two travel well together and together arrive at the understanding that what anchors them both is their lifelong friendship.

Author Biography

Kurt Caswell

is a writer and professor of creative writing and literature in the Honors College at Texas Tech University, where he teaches intensive field courses on writing and leadership. His books includeIceland Summer,Laika’s Window: The Legacy of a Soviet Space Dog,Getting to Grey Owl: Journeys on Four Continents,In the Sun’s House: My Year Teaching on the Navajo Reservation, andAn Inside Passage, which won the 2008 River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Book Prize. His essays have appeared inISLE, Isotope, Matter, Ninth Letter, Orion, River Teeth, and theAmerican Literary Review. He lives in Lubbock, Texas.