Sometimes the shortest story can make the boldest point. These words are certainly true for Armann Reynison´s vignettes. Vignettes are short stories portraing images or word-pictures so many of us will be familiar with when we read it. In his fourth book, Vignettes IV Armann writes about intimate moments, funny events, exotic locales, and scenes as familiar to you as the view from your kitchen window.  Presented in both Icelandic and English, these stories reflect timeless Icelandic folklore traditions as well as today's global citizen's knowledge and interest in the world. But common to all these stories or images, is the focus on moments of real life. Stories that capture the common threads that bind us all together. And sometimes fewer words can create the clearest image.

Artist Hörður Torfason is not only well known for his music. He´s also known for being the first gay man to come out to the public in a famous interview in 1975 which left the nation in a total shock and forced him to leave the country. Influenced by the international liberation movement. Hörður Torfason played an important role in the foundation of Samtökin ´78, The Lesbian and Gay Organisation of Iceland. After braking the silence Iceland was not the same. In a Gayice.is interview (2004) Hörður talks about the past, present and upcoming projects.

Until the 1970s lesbians and gay men were practically invisible in Icelandic society which surrounded them with contempt and massive silence. Their reaction was either to hide their sexual identity completely, finding an occasional escape from the oppression while touring abroad, or to move to the metropolitan cities of continental Europe and Northern America. Many of those people never turned back, being later properly termed as sexual political refugees.

For many, Iceland didn't really register itself upon the international stage before the success of Björk in the mid-90s. It became a briefly fashionable destination during that decade, but is now once again the preserve of more discerning or adventurous travellers. Dubbed 'the land of fire and ice', this is a country that lives side-by-side with the elements. At the height of summer it enjoys sunshine at midnight, while in the depths of February, it sees just four hours of daylight, from noon till 4pm. Spectacular displays of the aurora borealis provide some compensation, but few would still choose to visit at such a time. Glaciers permanently scar parts of its wild landscape, while elsewhere dozens of volcanoes and hot geysers keep things fiery and steamy.

IT'S been a long hot summer for bears but autumn's finally here, the weather's cooling down and the grizzlies are busily brushing up their fur to embark on their annual winter migrations. This year, the season got off to an early start as Reykjavik proudly hosted it's first ever Bears on Ice weekend. A small but dedicated band of UK bears braved the sub Arctic temperatures to enjoy a weekend of hairy Viking 'rape and pillage' in the party capital of northern Europe. The weekend festivities kicked off on Friday night at the tiny Club MSC in the heart of downtown Reykjavik with the Vikings, Bears and Leather party. Here our host Frosti Jónsson, a fetching little blond and ginger cub, drew gasps of dismay when he threatened to recite an Icelandic poem of welcome. This was quickly followed by roars of approval when he offered to get his knob out instead!

Until the 1970s lesbians and gay men were practically invisible in the Icelandic society and many of them were forced to leave the country in the search for more open society. The silence was first broken in 1975 when the first gay man revealed his sexual identity publicly in the local media. As a result living in Iceland was not an option and he moved to Denmark. In 1978 The Lesbian and Gay Organization of Iceland was founded, generally being referred to as 'Samtökin 78'.  it´s establishment a bold initiative was made in making gay men and lesbians visible in Iceland and fighting against prejudices.