Historical Fiction Talk: Using highlights from Icelandic History, 1918-1944

Author Solveig Eggerz presents the process of making characters central to a story that is historic in nature—how historic events impact the characters’ lives, as well as how vibrant characters breathe life into a historic period. The instructor will use scenes from her novel Sigga of Reykjavik (2019) as examples.

Topics will include:

• The interaction of parallel timelines—how the timelines of fictional characters intersect with “real world” timelines and how they enhance one another.
• How the skills of fiction-writing (details, dialogue, scenes) enhance a non-fiction account.
• How much history to place on a fictional character’s back before they buckle.

The program is free. Refreshments will be served.

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About the Author:

Solveig Eggerz, a native of Iceland, is a storyteller, writer, and teacher. Her award-winning novel, Seal Woman, based on historical events, is set in Iceland, Germany, and Poland. Solveig teaches creative writing to diverse populations, ranging from the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD, to blind students in Iceland, to incarcerated persons in Northern Virginia. She is a former reporter for the Alexandria Gazette-Packet. Her essays and stories have appeared in The Delmarva Review, Palo Alto Review, and The Northern Virginia Review.

In 2008 Solveig published her first novel, Seal Woman. Her second novel Sigga of Reykjavik was published in March 2019.