Interview | "I wanted to say something important with the easy vocabulary I know"

says Marjón, who won the City Library's Poetry Slam 2025 with the poem Ég neita (English: I refuse) which is the first poem that Marjón writes in Icelandic but she comes from the Brittany region of France.

Poetry slam has its roots in Chicago in the eighties and is a performance contest where the words and poetry is the main focus. The performance is an artform that can be linked to various performing arts. Traditional poetry reading does not count as poetry slam. The performers can combine the poetry performance with other artforms such as music, visual arts or drama. 

Wants to learn vocabulary about politics and feminism

Marjón first came to Iceland as an exchange student at University when she was an undergraduate student in Nordic studies. One thing led to another, and now she is in the final stages of her doctoral studies at the University of Iceland, in the same field.

"I think there was a bit a sense of anger in the poem because I don't feel like I can exist in Icelandic. I find it sad that I'm learning the language just to use it in an Icelandic courses and not in real life, which is very strange because we live in Iceland. I want to gain vocabulary about politics, feminism and the news, or anything I'm interested in. My favorite feeling is when I forget that I'm speaking Icelandic because I'm so interested in what I'm talking about! We are so different that it's important to have diverse approaches to learning the language. For example, I do best learning a language when I'm creative. It would also be nice to learn vocabulary so I can joke in Icelandic."

She says that it's alright to learn words like waterfall, lava and volcanic eruption, which she used in Ég neita, the victory poem, but they don't get people far in everyday life. She also feels that there is a need for more books in Icelandic to bridge the gap between children's books and novels, for those who are learning the language,

"I just can't read any more children's books."
 

Would have backed out if not for a moment with the knitting group

When Marjón moved to Iceland, she first learned English before learning Icelandic. In addition to French, she also speaks Spanish due to her ties to Argentina, and a little Polish as her husband is from Poland. Despite that, she says she's not good at learning languages, it's a journey and it's important to be able to laugh at yourself. In Argentina, she started speaking Spanish after only a few months, but people there said that the pronunciation and mistakes didn't matter, everyone knew a grandmother or grandfather who spoke Spanish with an accent, being an immigrant was only a positive thing and mistakes were welcome.

"Once a week I go to Gröndalshús and write short stories and poems with "Zebras", a group of people whose native language is not Icelandic. Writers come to visit and we share experiences in creative writing in Iceland. Last summer I joined a creative writing course at the City Library, where I wrote my first short story in Icelandic and read it out loud at the library at The Culture Night (Icelandic: Menningarnótt). I find Grófin to be a safe space, so I decided to give it a try.”

This was Marjón's first time participating in a poetry slam and until this summer she had only written in French and English.

"The reason I took part was because my friend Elías, who also did, said that it was important that the group of participants was diverse and that we showed our mood in a public space. I felt very, very lucky that there was a large group of people of foreign origin among the participants, it is important to be creative in Icelandic and English and as well as something in between. It's so important to have a space to participate in the community. Immigrants is a group of people that has something to say, it doesn't have to be perfect. Poetry slam was very new to me but I loved this ,mic drop style, not just reading the poems but interacting with guests which was a stronger feeling than, for example, through a poetry book. But I was really scared of the idea, I didn't know what slam poetry was and in France this way of performance would be considered strange. I feel like I have more to say here than in France."

Marjón has not only learned Icelandic and English since moving to Iceland, but also how to knit and now knits all the time, sweaters, shawls and more. She is a frequent guest at the weekly Handycrafts and book chat meet-ups in Grófinn, which are open for everyone.

"I wanted to back out the day before the Poetry Slam because I couldn't find anyone to proofread the grammar of my poem, although it didn't have to be perfect, I thought it would be better to have it proofread. I had asked around but it didn't work out. Then I went to the Handycrafts meet up and asked the group if they would be willing to read my poem, which they were. I would have backed out if I hadn't been to the Handycraft meet up that day. It was also very good encouragement, they believed I could do it. I was very nervous, but I wanted to take part because I believed in the message I was carrying. In the poem, I also meant that sometimes I feel like I have to love everything about Iceland to be a “good immigrant,” but that’s not the case, even though I love a lot. I don't love Icelandic, but I don't hate it either. It's just as fun as any other language. Icelandic is a tool in my case. But we all have different feelings and experiences about Icelandic, and that's alright! Icelandic is essential for me, because I live here, and I want to speak it and use it. But what I enjoy most about Icelandic is being creative, and having fun creating new meanings and ideas."

Libraries are important for immigrants 

The Handycraft session are not only a pleasant time Marjón to knit in a good company, but also about the only opportunity she has to practice speaking Icelandic about everything and nothing. Most of the jobs she has worked in Iceland have been in service buisness or at hotels, and at home she speaks English to her husband.

"The library is a very imporrtant place, a good and safe space, especially for people who are socially isolated. There is a very important community there, a kind of a gravity center. The dream would be it would have longer opening hours, it is so much more than just books. I went on sick leave and then started going to the library when I signed up for the creative writing course for people with Icelandic as a second language. Since then, I have made great use of the library. I am in a writing group that meets regularly, attended the Future Festival, the Handycraft sessions and of course the Poetry Slam. Libraries are important for immigrants, we don't have a family and a job and then it's important to have space. In my home country there wasn't as much need for it. At first I couldn't meet Icelanders in other places, except maybe at work or school, but then it was a boss, a teacher or children, I wanted to meet Icelanders who were...what's it called, peers."

A nerd who learned Old Icelandic

At the Poetry Slam, Marjón was introduced on stage as the participant who has read 40 Icelandic sagas, far more than most people born and raised in Iceland. She says the reason for she shoose Nordic studies was because she wanted to do an exchange program in the Nordic countries. In The Brittany region there are also many songs about leaving and never coming back, and it was common for sailors who travel from the region to Iceland in the 20th Century. When asked what her favorite Icelandic Saga is, she is a little hesitant to answer,

"This is a very difficult question, Gíslasaga or Grettirsaga, I love sagast about outlaws because they challengeed the society. But Melkorka in Laxdælasaga is my favorite character. I'm writing a poem about her now. I think we, women of foreign origin, can relate to her. She was Irish and was thought to be mute and stupid, but after a while people discovered that she could speak. She was a princess from Ireland but a slave in Iceland and I think a lot of women relate to the experience of losing the identity they had before but no longer have here. I relate a lot to Melkorka, how she was in the society and how people talked about her. Because she didn't speak Icelandic, she was seen as being incapable of anything. I'm a nerd who studied Old Icelandic and I want the Icelandic Sagas, with a capital S, to have influence and empathy in the modern world." 

Marjón says that winning the Poetry Slam encouraged her to write more. 

"I learned a lot from writing this poem. It was important to have this moment where my Icelandic is positive! I think I would participate again."