Elena was born on the 22nd of November 1982. Scorpio, brave and passionate, or Sagittarius, independent, and optimistic. The stars couldn’t decide.
Macedonia was born on the 8th of September 1991. Virgo. Spica shining bright. Generous and practical. They announced it on the radio.
The Bosnian War was born on the 6th of April 1992. Aries. Resourceful and unpredictable. Elena was nine. The time was five in the morning. The TV was on. “It has started,” her dad said. “Serbs are shelling Sarajevo.” Elena sat next to him to watch. On the screen, the war was dark green with white flares.
I like writing about Elena. She is a friend and a fellow writer. A fellow foreigner in Iceland. Another translingual author. Her story. Her mindset. Her style. She is a real gem. Her linguistic identity is complicated. Here, in the Icelandic context, on an island, separated by an ocean and a language, it’s a good story to tell. A reminder that the sides of the room where we met are not walls but rows of doors with long, tangled corridors winding around, under, and above us…
