The writer and photographer Bruce McMillan has had a very productive stay in Davíðshús this July.

Akureyri - A true friend of Iceland has been writing in the apartment for authors and scientists in Davíðshús in the month of July. New books have been created and others been made ready for publishing. "Akureyri is a wonderful town, one of the most beautiful towns in the world. Here you have everything. It is a great honor for me and inspiration to have the opportunity to stay in the house of Davíð Stefánsson and it's wonderful to walk around the town," says the American writer and photographer Bruce McMillan.

Bruce McMillan is a multi-honored writer in the USA and since the year 1977, forty-three books of his have been published. Most of the praise he has received is for one of his Icelandic books, Pysjunætur, Nights of the Pufflings, and for the last few years most of his books concern Iceland. It is also so with his newest books that is going to be published in the states next year. One book, Going Fishing, is about a young boy, who goes fishing with his grandfathers in Breiðafjörður and the other book, The Problem with Chickens, is his story with paintings by the artist Gunnella, Guðrún Elín Ólafsdóttir.

In Davíðshús McMillan has finished one children's book with photographs from Akureyri. He calls the book Shapes Town, which is based on his photographs he has taken of many different shapes in the surroundings around the town, circles, triangles and squares, which children are supposed to find. Then the remainder of his Akureyri stay is to finish his first novel for children - without photos. That story happens in Vestmannaeyjar and is about the son of a lighthouse keeper.

Tired of the sun

"When I came to Akureyri, I intended to take photos when the sun was shining and write when it was cloudy. But the sun has been shining so much and your summer days are so long that I was just exhausted after the first week. Hopefully there will be more clouds so that I will be able to finish my writing here in the remaining days," says McMillan and laughs.

In addition to writing his books, he has also put up a website for Gunnella where he has written an excellent profile about her art career spanning the last twenty years. For those who might be interested, the American Iceland fan points to the website www.gunnella.info, but for information about him one can look to www.brucemcmillan.com.

McMillan has so often traveled to Iceland, as he is fascinated by the people and the nature, that he plans to even stay here in his later years for half of the year and live the rest of the year in his home in Maine in USA. "This is my dream," said McMillan where he sits in the stairway of Davíðshús and looks fascinated looking out over the bright and sunny waters of the fjord, Eyjafjord.


article and photo by
Björn Jóhann Björnsson

Akureyri is the culture capital in the north of Iceland.