In the middle of the political crisis in the Icelandic parlament caused by the Panamapapers-affair the island is also preparing to elect it’s sixth president in the end of June.
One of the candidates who is considered to have a good chance to win the election is the 42 year old author Andri Snær Magnason.
Recently Andri Snær was short listed for Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire for the French translation of his novel LoveStar. Magnason is best known for the non-fiction book Dreamland where he argued against the development of power- and aluminiumplants and predicted the financial collapse in Iceland.
The book’s counterproposal to tear down the closed down American military base in Keflavík was taken into account, so the barracks today host filmstudios and an international university.
Dreamland was sold in almost 25 000 copies in Iceland and Andri Snær became international known and a spokeperson for the environmental movement. The book did not directly affect the politics of the government but it gave people a language to express why they opposed the new plants and environmental encroachments.
But can the presidential position give Andri Snær power to influence the cases close to his heart? One role the president of Iceland plays is that he or she has to approve new laws from the parlament. If the president refuse to approve a new law two times, a referendum is called upon about it instead. It is hard to imagine that Magnason as president would approve any new laws that could cause any danger to the environment.
The fact that Magnason is considered to be one of the strongest candidates to win the election is not only because the people are tired of political presidents such as Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson and sceptic to politicans after the last crisis. Magnason has a wide popularity and has support from Björk as well as newspapers, environmentalists and parts of the business sector. Among them the family behind the discount grocery business Bónus.
In the mid 90’s there was a lot of discussion in Iceland about a crisis and lack of interest in poetry which caused Andri Snær to publish the poetrycollection Bónuspoems, a travesty of The Divine Comedy placed to Bónusstore. On the cover of the collection was the logo of Bónus and the book was sold in all the companies' stores to a discount prize. Twenty years later it can turn out that this publication has given Magnason supporters among the business life as well as the commoners.
It’s a long time since Andri Snær Magnason last published a new book, but this spring he has been putting his last hand on a new collection of short stories. The question everyone now is asking is if it will be published by the head of the state.
