Creative Summer Jobs – Iða – Poetry
Iða Ósk Gunnarsdóttir is working on her first poetry collection. as part of this year's Creative Summer Jobs in Hafnarfjörður. The book's design is inspired by a deck of cards and will be 52 pages long in total. The poems themselves are personal but intended for everyone. The aim of the project is to encourage people to look more closely at their surroundings and the secrets that lie hidden there.
Inspired by a traditional deck of cards
„This summer I am working on my first poetry book. The book is inspired by a pack of cards and will be 52 pages in total, with each page being completely unique, just like in the pack of cards we all know so well. I write the poems and illustrate the book myself, but I have had a lot of fun playing with collage and have used the deck of cards itself for the illustrations.“
Poetry for everyone
„I am very taken with Hafnarfjörður, as is clear from the book. The elven queen features heavily, as does the beauty of the town. The poems themselves are personal but intended for everyone, and I hope they encourage people to look more closely at their surroundings and the secrets that lie hidden there. That is the aim of the project. At the end of the summer, at the closing event for the creative summer jobs, I will be reading from the book and displaying the illustrations. Who knows, there might even be a few copies for sale so that people can also enjoy it from home.“
„I'm currently on the drama course at the Garðabær Comprehensive School and will finish there next spring. I've been writing poetry my whole life and I find a great deal of peace of mind in it. There's something about writing text about life that people have to look at a bit closely to understand. I enjoy both traditional and free-form poetry, and they are mixed together on the pages of the book.“
We strongly encourage you to follow the project's progress on the project's social media. „I'm active on Instagram and show what I'm up to there every day – the link is @hringida_“
About Creative Summer Jobs 2025
In the summer of 2021, the City of Hafnarfjörður, in collaboration with the city's youth centre, Hamarinn, decided to revive the “Creative Summer Jobs” project, which had been run in the summer of 2017. Individuals and groups aged 18-25 were also invited to submit ideas for creative projects in Hafnarfjörður. Selected groups were given the opportunity to work on various creative projects in different artistic fields that would also liven up the town's social life, delighting tourists and residents in one way or another. The staff of the Creative Summer Jobs, run as part of the Hafnarfjörður Work Camp, are tasked with bringing the town to life, making it more fun, beautiful and diverse with artistic and creative events. The projects are varied and appeal to different age groups and interests. Þorbjörg Signý Ágústsson is the project manager for Creative Summer Jobs.
This year, there are nine diverse projects operating as part of the Creative Summer Jobs scheme, and they will be featured weekly over the summer.