Fishing company Brim has pledged to support Icelandic literature for the coming four years with funding for the Icelandic Literary Society.
Brim managing director Guðmundur Kristjánsson commented that it is a pleasure to provide support to this respected association, and for an established fishing company it is entirely suitable to support a body dedicated to Icelandic culture and language.
‘Life in this country has long revolved around literature, history and fish,’ he said. ‘Nature, the sea and the fish have shaped our existence in Iceland through the ages and are entwined with our culture and language. These are factors that give us our identity and are part of our self-image.’
He commented that Brim seeks to uphold its responsibilities to society as a whole, which includes those facets that cannot be valued in hard cash terms.
‘We want to support the Icelandic language, and we have to look to ourselves,’ he said. ‘In a company with a workforce of 800, there is a large cohort that does not speak Icelandic as its first language. We see it as our duty to support them in gaining a command of Icelandic, which gives them opportunities to use their talents and skills, improving both their own lives and the community as a whole.’
The Icelandic Literary Society has been in existence for more than two hundred years and has done a great deal to preserve and strengthen the Icelandic language. The Society was also central to Iceland’s independence struggle in the 19th century.
‘Brim plays a leading role in the social responsibilities of companies, placing a strong focus on environmental issue and innovation in its activities,’ the Icelandic Literary Society stated.
‘It is particularly pleasing that Brim as a leading fisheries company has decided to put its support behind the Icelandic Literary Society with this agreement, becoming one of its sponsors.’
Brim managing director Guðmundur Kristjánsson and the Icelandic Literary Society’s director Jón Sigurðsson shake on the agreement
