24 Days of Making, Doing, and Being: December 10
Jólabókaflóð: a tradition of books and reading.
Welcome to 24 Days of Making, Doing, and Being, a digital Advent calendar for slowing down and making space for presence, creativity, and gratitude.
This is a seasonal offering for paid subscribers, but since the regular Creative Fuel schedule is a little different this month, I am sending a few previews to all of you throughout these weeks. Today’s is one of my favorite traditions, so I’d figure I would share.
It is time for another annual tradition in this calendar: Jólabókaflóð!
Jólabókaflóð is Iceland’s Christmas “book flood.” Books are often the gift of choice, and given on Christmas Eve. They are then unwrapped and readers stay up late into the night cozying up with their newly gifted stories.
This “book flood” is because not only are many new titles released in Iceland this time of year, but it’s an important season for the publishing community: Christmas sales account for around 40% of total annual book sales. It makes sense that there would be a holiday book buying frenzy in a country so committed to literature—a study published last year showed that over a third of Icelanders read or listen to a book on a daily basis.
In November, the Icelandic Publishers Association publishes Bókatíðinda. The catalog contains all of the new book titles, and people peruse the pages to figure out what best books to give for the holidays. Here is what this year’s looks like—as you can see, even Santa is an avid reader.
This “book flood” tradition began during World War II, when paper was one of the few commodities that wasn’t rationed. Books flourished. Iceland literary roots however are much older than that, and writers have been capturing Iceland’s history since the 12th century, through the famed Icelandic Sagas.
Through darker periods, both politically and seasonally, storytelling was an essential means of survival. In the Middle Ages, to get through the long and dark winters, Icelanders had an evening tradition of kvöldvaka, gathering together in their farmhouses for a kind of evening vigil.
: