Hi, I’m Meg. Sæl verið.

I’m your friendly, neighbourhood t-extraordinaire. I earned my MFA from Columbia University (Poetry and Literary Translation), and I make my living helping companies tell their stories. I specialise in Icelandic translation — but sometimes dive into Danish and German.

My life is in service to words—whether literature or marketing.

I’ve worked as a narrative fixer-upper in the fast-paced financial sector and as a tech storyteller for Silicon Valley’s finest. I’ve covered, edited, or translated the gamut of topics from opera to Oracle.

Sometimes I get to brag a little… Like this:

Oprah Daily named my translation of Magma by Thora Hjorleifsdottir one of the Best Translated Books of 2021. And in 2023, I realised my dream of appearing the New York Times not once — but twice.

Between lit and marketing leadership, I’m drawing a journey with two maps.

My first book, Cold Moons (2017 Phoneme Media/Deep Vellum) by Magnús Sigurðsson, is taught in universities throughout North America and Europe. Composer David R. Scott translated the work into a choral symphony.

Among other projects, I’ve translated a collection of one of Iceland’s first modernist short story writers, Ásta Sigurðardóttir under the title Nothing to be Rescued. I once translated a book of essays dedicated to the world’s first democratically elected female president, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (2019).

I’m at work on a translation of renowned Icelandic novelist and poet Sjón’s collected poetry, generously funded by the NEA, and two of Svava Jakobsdóttir’s short story collections for Open Letter.

 “Meglenska,” the name of my one-lady consultancy, is an homage to the strange journey of coming to know myself through and alongside and in Icelandic. It’s a portmanteau: Meg + íslenska (Icelandic) + enska (English) = Meglenska.

I’m one of few immigrant members of the Icelandic Writers’ Union. I’m also also a proud member of the Author’s Guild and the PEN Translation Committee.