Hallgrimur Helgason traveled from Iceland to the United States and Canada for two weeks. He stopped in Minneota on Friday. Mascot photo by Scott ThomaMinneota library director Gail Perrizo, left, assist Hallgrimur Helgason in researching his Icelandic heritage for a book he is writing.

Iceland author visits here during travel to U.S., Canada for research

Hallgrimur Helgason working on third book in a series

To get a better perspective on how his ancestors emigrated to American to seek a better life, author Hallgrimur Helgason made Minneota one of his stops on Friday while doing research for a book.
Helgason, who lives in Iceland, has written 10 books. Although he has yet to name this one, his research also took him to Canada and North Dakota.
"I'm trying to imagine this story and you have to have some kind of ammunition," Helgason said. "You can't write about someplace you haven't been."
Helgason arrived in Minneapolis on Sept. 13 and returned to Iceland on Monday, Sept. 26. He first traveled to North Dakota where he researched in Fargo, Gardar, Mountain, Akra and Walhalla, before moving on to Canada.
"I went to Winnipeg and from there up to Gimli, which is the 'capitol' of New Iceland in Manitoba, where the first Icelanders settled in 1875 by the shores of Lake Winnipeg," he explained. "From Gimli, I traveled up to Arborg, Riverton and Hecla Island, and then stopped in Minneota on my way back to Minneapolis."
Helgason has been writing a series of historical novels about Iceland's journey from the dark and cold ages and into the modern era.
"It is very much focused on the herring boom we had in the north of Iceland at the turn of the twentieth century, a real gold rush that gave us our only Klondike town, Siglufjördur," he said. "This is where the novel plays out."
His first book in the series, "Sixty Kilos of Sunshine", was published in 2018. The second book, "Sixty Kilos of Knockouts" was published last year. Both books earned the Icelandic Literature Prize (similar to our Pulitzer).Helgason is now working on the third book in that series.
"Here, Gestur, the main character of the books, gets a letter from his 'dead' father, who disappeared early in the first volume," Helgason explained. "Now it seems he is not dead at all but did escape to America. So the third volume will start with Gestur going to look for his aging father, so suddenly the story takes us over to Northern America."
While in Minneota, Helgason visited St. Paul's Church and cemetery, as well as the public library.
"Just before leaving Iceland, I read an article in the paper back home that my great-great grandfather (Christian Gunther Schram) was buried in Minneota," he said. "I didn't know that he went to America. That was a shock. My mother and grandfather never mentioned this.
I found his grave and it was a touching moment."
Helgason moved from Iceland to Manhattan, NY from 1985-89 where he was "a struggling artist." He then went to Paris until 1995 before returning to Iceland and became a full-time writer. Among the books he has written is a children's book called "Vigdis" about the world's first female president. Helgason left a copy of the book at the Minneota Public Library for others to enjoy reading.

Contact Us

The Minneota Mascot
Address: 201 N. Jefferson
Minneota, MN 56264

Phone:(507) 872-6492