Marjun Syderbø Kjelnæs

Marta, Marta (not translated into English) is a novel told along two strands, centred on a Faroese protagonist: a young woman who travels to Israel in the early 1990s to work on a kibbutz, and her everyday life in the present-day Faroe Islands, when war between Israel and Palestine breaks out in the wake of the attack on 7 October 2023. The woman grew up in a pro-Israel religious environment in the Faroe Islands, and the outbreak of war prompts her to reflect on the period when she worked on the kibbutz. That time is described as one of optimism and there are dreams of peace in the region; the year is 1993, and Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin have just shaken hands, shortly before the Oslo Accords are signed.

The kibbutz, with its many nationalities, appears as a microcosm of global politics and international conflict. People discuss current events with both cynicism and optimism, defend their own countries’ positions and viewpoints, and criticise the policies of others. In the midst of this stands Marta, listening. What does she have to contribute? What position, stance, or politics can she represent?

At its core, the book thematises the question of taking a stand. What does it mean to take a position, to hold an opinion, and maybe change it? Where does our loyalty lie, and what does it mean to go against it?

The novel addresses a politically charged subject, but does so in a poetic and undramatic way by focusing on Marta’s inner development. In its own quiet manner, the book “forces” its readers to examine the world and reflect on how our worlds – which may seem far removed from one another – are nonetheless connected, and that we owe it to our fellow human beings to look with open eyes at events as they unfold and to take an active stand.

Marjun Syderbø Kjelnæs (b. 1974) is a prominent voice on the Faroese literary scene. She writes not only novels, but has also published children’s books, young adult fiction, poetry collections, short stories, and plays. Marjun has received numerous awards, the most recent being the M.A. Jacobsen Award for Literary Works 2025 for the book Marta, Marta. Her works have been translated into the Nordic languages as well as English, German, and French.