Svava Jakobsdottir (1930-2004) was one of Iceland's leading contemporary authors and her short stories, often depicting the lives of women, hold a special place in Icelandic literature. Jakobsdottir was also acclaimed as a playwright, literary scholar, and a novelist.

Meg Matich has received support for her literary translation work from PEN, Fulbright, the Icelandic Literature Center, and others, and frequently collaborates with UNESCO. She received a PEN/Heim Translation Prize for her translation of Magnús Sigurðsson's Cold Moons (Phoneme Media, 2017), which composer David R. Read LessScott subsequently translated into a choral symphony. In 2018, Meg translated an anthology in honor of the world's first democratically elected woman president, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (2019), and collaborated with Sigurðsson on an Icelandic poetry anthology for the Cafe Review. Her translation of Þóra Hjörleifsdóttir's Magma is forthcoming from Grove Atlantic (US) and Picador (UK), and her translation of Auður Jónsdóttir's Quake is forthcoming from Dottir Press. She is the former director of The Poetry Brothel Reykjavik and producer of the upcoming immersive performance The Poetry Apothecary (Ljóðatek), in celebration of UNESCO Reykjavik's ten-year anniversary. Her translations have appeared in or are forthcoming from PEN America, Exchanges, Words Without Borders, Asymptote, Gulf Coast, and others.