A Woman Looks Over Her Shoulder (Circumference Books, 2024) by Icelandic poet Brynja Hjálmsdóttir, is a three-part surrealist journey that explores women's experiences through and of place—in sewing clubs, swampy garages, radioactive pools, and snowglobes—invoking Icelandic mythology to satirize modern society and envision a world in which "the coffee is always hot / and the doors always open".

Visit Circumference Books for more information.

Publicity

Poets & Writers interviews Brynja and Rachel about the book and the process of writing and translating it.

On Electric Literature, Rachel interviews Brynja about the book, the Icelandic literary landscape, the women’s rights movement in Iceland, and utopia.

Excerpts

“Procedure”, featured on the Asymptote Journal blog

Mollusk”, “Empty Trough”, and “Radiant” published in Scandinavian Review