Jóhanna Margrét won the 2025 reading competition.

Cultivating language in the Grand Reading Competition

Jóhanna Margrét Logadóttir, from Lækjarskóli, won the 2025 Grand Reading Competition, which was held for the 29th time in Víðistaðakirkja yesterday afternoon. Valdís Silja Daðadóttir, from Öldutúnsskóli, came in second place, and Jón Gísli Eggertsson, from Hvaleyrarskóli, came third. The eighteen pupils received their awards from the hands of Minister of Education Ásthildur Lóa Þórsdóttir.

You are all winners

„You are all winners. You were incredibly brilliant,“ the Minister for Education said at the ceremony, and it was clear that the day had moved her. „This is your day. It takes courage and hard work to come up here. I want to thank you for today and for letting me be here. This has been absolutely fantastic.“

Yes, a polished, beautiful reading resounded through Víðistaðakirkja when eighteen pupils from the Year 7 classes of Hafnarfjörður's primary schools took part in the Stóru upplestrarkeppnin 2025. The pupils recited an extract from a book by the competition's poet, Hjalti Halldórsson, entitled DRAUMUR. They recited two poems, the other being one of their own choice. The author was in the hall and also listened to the reading.

Future potential

Mayor Valdimar Víðisson gave words of encouragement to the competitors and offered advice to young people. „By practising public speaking, you build self-confidence, learn to control your voice and express yourselves clearly and purposefully,“ he said. This skill will serve them for the rest of their lives. It takes courage and determination to step forward like this. „I want to congratulate you all for being here today and taking part – daring to step forward and put yourself out there in a reading is a great victory in itself.“

Mayor Valdimar Víðisson encourages the young people ahead of the competition. They all performed admirably.

A panel of judges selected the winners from a strong group of representatives from their schools and presented them with a special award. This year's panel of judges consisted of Björk Einisdóttir, chair, Hafrún Dóra Júlíusdóttir, Kristín Ásta Ólafsdóttir and Árni Sverrir Bjarnason. The festival's presenter and host was Ingibjörg Einarsdóttir. She spoke about how the competition began here in Hafnarfjörður in 1996 but is now incorporated into the schools' curricula and has therefore become a permanent fixture in Year 7, keeping the competition as tight this year as any other.

„Always new readers. They were magnificent and I was proud of the group,“ said Ingibjörg after the competition. „I've been doing this for 29 years. One more,“ she said, pleased with the reception and how many people told her how special the moment was.

Choir and music

Year 4 pupils and participants in the 2023 Mini-Speech Competition took to the stage as a talking choir, following a youth band that performed the Bubba song 'Blindsker' with flair. The choir is one of the hallmarks of the Mini-Speech Competition, a spin-off project from the Big Speech Competition. It is intended for Year 4 pupils in primary schools and has the same underlying goals and purpose as the Senior Spelling Bee, but with a different approach. Björn Hlynur Brynjólfsson from the Hafnarfjörður School of Music played the piano. Then, Adam Sebastian Zmarzly read a poem in Polish. Audunn Sölvi Hugason, the winner of the 2024 competition, also took to the stage and introduced the competition's poet.

Adam Sebastian Zmarzly read a poem in Polish.

Awards for short stories

At the festival, awards were presented for the short story competition for pupils in Years 9 to 11, and for the competition to design the poster for the closing ceremony.

Sunna Björk Magnúsdóttir, a Year 10 pupil at Víðistaðaskóli, won this year's short story competition.

It started as a pilot project 29 years ago.

The Great Reading Competition began as a pilot project on reading in Hafnarfjörður during the winter of 1996-1997. Since then, the competition has grown and strengthened considerably. For several years, it has also been held nationwide.

Raddir, an association for quality reading and presentation, ran the competition for 25 years, but for the last four years, the competition has been organised by the local councils and the local school community. In Hafnarfjörður, the school community still benefits from the professional assistance of Ingibjörg Einarsdóttir, the initiator of the Stóru Upplestrarkeppnin in Iceland, who still takes charge of the final celebration at Víðistaðakirkja.

This year's competitors:

1. Jón Gísli Eggertsson, Hvaleyrarskóli
2. Hrafnhildur Helga Björnsdóttir, Hraunvallas School
3. Sunneva Bergmann Skúladóttir, Áslandsskóli
4. Ásdís Hulda Svavarsdóttir, Víðistaðaskóli
5. Emil Ágúst Hilmarsson, Skarðshlíðarskóli
6. Sofía Ísabella Bjarnadóttir, Setbergsskóli
7. Mattea Líf Kristinsdóttir, Engidalsskóli
8. Emil Ágúst Hilmarsson, Skarðshlíðarskóli
9. Ásta Lovísa Ársælsdóttir, Lækjarskóli
10. Víkingur Hrafn Steinarsson, Skarðshlið School
11. Lísbet Helen Shijo, Hvaleyrarskóla
12. Adam Máni Viggósson, Hraunvallaskóli
13. Silvia Helga Magnúsdóttir, Engidalsskóli
14. Kristín Eldey Steingrímsdóttir, Víðistaðaskóli
15. Vilhjálmur Patrick Ragnarsson, Setbergsskóli
16. Valdís Silja Daðadóttir, Öldutúnsskóli
17. Jóhanna Margrét Logadóttir, Lækjarskóli
18. Gudmundur Árni Guðrúnarson, Áslandsskóli