Travel allows us many kinds of experiences. Time spent traversing different terrains affords us time to re-evaluate our sense of belonging to particular places. It also gives us the distance required to reflect on the moments in our lives these places have come to represent. Kári Gíslason, lecturer in Creative Writing at QUT, takes us on a return journey to Iceland, his country of birth, as a way of exploring the intriguing relationship between place, stories, and the feeling of coming home.

Kári Gíslason
Dr Kári Gíslason was born in Iceland and moved to Australia as a child. Since then, Kari’s work as a writer, teacher and academic has encompassed aspects of both his homeland and his adopted country. After studying English and Law, Kari wrote his doctoral thesis on authorship in medieval Iceland and he has published articles on the Icelandic family sagas. Kári has taught English Literature and Writing in Iceland and in Australia and currently lectures at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

Kári has an enduring interest in travel writing and his travel writing has been published in literary journals and the mainstream press. He is also author of the chapter on travel writing for the forthcoming Cambridge Companion to Creative Writing, and maintains a travel and writing blog.

Kári’s first book, The Promise of Iceland (UQP), which follows his returns to Iceland, is a lyrical and deeply personal reflection on fatherhood, travel and his homeland.