Minister cites extra 150 million after writers’ fund cut
Tuesday 8th September 2026 on 17:01 in
Iceland
Logi Einarsson, Iceland’s minister of culture, innovation and higher education, has responded to criticism of a proposed cut to the writers’ library fund by pointing to an additional 150 million krónur earmarked for strengthening the Icelandic language, mbl.is reported.
The Ministry of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education said the 2027 budget proposal allocates 142.3 million krónur to the fund. It also includes 150 million krónur in additional funding to strengthen the Icelandic language, with a particular focus on children and young people.
The ministry said work was under way to determine how the funding would be used, including a measure specifically aimed at authors of children’s and young people’s books.
mbl.is reported on Monday that children’s author Gunnar Helgason had criticised the government, saying its statements about improving children’s literacy and education were meaningless. He cited an 82.2 million krónur reduction in funding for the writers’ library fund, from 224.5 million to 142.3 million krónur.
Helgason also pointed out that the fund’s allocation had been increased by 78.5 million krónur last year. Margrét Tryggvadóttir, chair of the Writers’ Association, told mbl.is that the reduction would particularly affect children’s authors.
In the ministry’s statement, Logi said some of the additional funding would be used to support the writers’ library fund. Other ways of encouraging reading among children and young people were also being considered, he said, adding that writers played an important role.
“We face challenges when it comes to reading among children and young people, and there is neither one magic solution nor one obvious measure. The work must be carefully prepared and we must ensure that the funding is used as effectively as possible,” Logi said.
He added that proposals were being prepared on how the funding in the policy area could be used most effectively. The proposals will be developed in consultation with stakeholders and presented later in the autumn.