hagþenkir

the Association of Non-fiction and Educational Writers in Iceland

Hagþenkir, the Association of Icelandic Non-fiction Writers, was founded in 1983 and gained Ministry of Education certification in 1987. Membership is open to writers of published books and related materials who authorise the Association to negotiate contracts on their behalf in accordance with its rules. At present the Association has over 700 members. The Association’s office is located in the Reykjavík Academy in Reykjavík’s west side. The aim of the Association is to protect the interests and rights of its members and to improve conditions for contracts and the publishing of academic and educational material and other of its members’ activities. Among its objectives are:

  • to gather information and provide guidelines for the benefit of its members;
  • to handle agreements which, as determined at meetings of the Association, are required to be negotiated collectively for its members, and to be a member of appropriate copyright associations, and to protect other members’ interests;
  • to distribute fees paid to the Association in compliance with such collective agreements, in accordance with rules approved by meetings of the Association;
  • to strive to ensure that such laws, rules and regulations as are in force at any time best serve the aims of the Association, and to promote the widest understanding of the importance of optimum working conditions for writers of academic and educational materials.

Hagþenkir is a member of two copyright associations, Fjölís and Innheimtumiðstöð gjalda (IHM), and the board of the Association has drawn up agreements with Icelandic State Radio on remuneration for the broadcast of academic material, and with the State Teaching Materials Institute on terms for writers of educational material (owing to changed circumstances in the educational book market this agreement is no longer in force). 

Each year, Hagþenkir allocates grants funded by the licence fees it collects (largely from the public purse) for the use of photocopied material in schools and elsewhere; such grants have been in the form of authors’ royalties and sponsorship for writing projects. Members can, subject to conditions, apply for travel and educational grants.

The Association has, since 1987, conferred a special award for academic work of outstanding quality, and in recent years ten writers have gained nominations for this award, which claims the longest continuous record of literary prizes presented in Iceland. Hagþenkir is a member of The Nordic Council of Writers and Translators.

Chairman of Hagþenkir is Gunnar Þór Bjarnason.

The managing director is Friðbjörg Ingimarsdóttir, email: hagthenki@hagthenkir.is