Seawomen of Iceland: Survival on the Edge
Finalist for the 2017 Washington State Book Award in General Nonfiction / History
The plaque said this was the winter fishing hut of Thurídur Einarsdóttir, one of Iceland's greatest fishing captains, and that she lived from 1777 to 1863.
"Wait," anthropologist and former seawoman Margaret Willson said. "She "
So began a quest. Were there more Icelandic seawomen? Most Icelanders said no, and, after all, in most parts of the world fishing is considered a male profession. What could she expect in Iceland?
She found a surprise. This book is a glimpse into the lives of vibrant women who have braved the sea for centuries. Their accounts include the excitement, accidents, trials, and tribulations of fishing in Iceland from the historic times of small open rowboats to today's high-tech fisheries. Based on extensive historical and field research, Seawomen of Iceland allows the seawomen's voices to speak directly with strength, intelligence, and - above all - a knowledge of how to survive.
This engaging ethnographic narrative will intrigue both general and academic readers interested in maritime culture, the anthropology of work, Nordic life, and gender studies.
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"Sailing on the eloquent prose of Willson's research on Icelandic seawomen is the definition of experiencing the pleasure of reading a good ethnography. The book shows how deep curiosity and small questions lead us to large-scale insights. . . . This is a book that everyone with an interest in ethnography should read regardless of the kind of anthropology or social science they are engaged with."--Younes Saramifar, LSE Review of Books
"The seawomen's tales are full of their love of the sea and pride in their strength and achievements, and Willson's sense of humor and enthusiasm for the sea and the seawomen shine through her very accessible writing."--Claire Eamer, Hakai Magazine
"A wonderfully detailed and lovingly crafted study of Icelandic women at sea through the ages. Willson . . . explore[s] not only why so many women fished and participated in maritime labour, especially in the past, but also to ask why this knowledge remains hidden and marginalized.NORA: Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research"--Elisabeth Lund Engebretsen, NORA: Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research
"What if a certain working demographic had disappeared from memory? . . . Willson is repeatedly told that women do not work at sea--except that archives and real lives attest that women actually do. . . . Seawomen of Iceland is about tough work and tougher weather, about fishing through changing socioeconomic currents, and about the subtle--and not-so-subtle--roles gender plays in working lives."--Bryonny Goodwin-Hawkins, Anthropology of Work
"This book is an interesting read and difficult to put down. Willson's writing and storytelling is engaging and stirring."--The Northern Mariner
"[A]n engaging, many-sided and well-written exploration of the seawomen of Iceland throughout the centuries. Willson truly has succeeded in her aim to rescue these women from national oblivion and the book is, therefore, an important contribution to the history of women in the maritime sector and maritime gender history in general."--Journal of Maritime Research
"this book is particularly valuable because it explains the specifically icelandic aspects of these seawomen's histories... it will be an exemplary text in the study of women's maritime pasts for decades to come... the book offers a voyage that many people, like me, will want to repeat just for the pleasure of traveling with Margaret Willson."--Scandinavian Studies
"Margaret Willson's ethnographic research reveals that despite its claims of being a society that promotes gender equality, and despite centuries-old laws dictating equal pay for both genders, Iceland does, in fact, have a significant amount of gender inequality at its core. As an island nation with few agricultural resources inland, Iceland relies heavily on the fishing industry not only for its own economic stability, but also for the very survival of its people. Willson, a former fisherwoman herself, begins research for this book in an attempt to discover why, in a country surrounded by the ocean, females are almost completely unrepresented in the lore of the nation's substantial seafaring tradition. What she uncovers is a rich but submerged oral history, laden with tales of successful, strong, brave, determined seawomen who have ultimately been "erased" from existence by their own society. Her objective is to write them back in."--International Journal on Women's Studies
"[S]tudies concerning maritime women are still few and far between, which makes Seawomen of Iceland: Survival on the Edge by Margaret Willson a valuable contribution to the small but growing number of books in this category."--The International Journal of Maritime History
