PREVIOUS PUBLICATIONS: BOOKS
Cross-genre Prose:
The Silence of Falling Snow. Toronto: Coach House Books, 2025. {Non-fiction}.
The Scent of Light. Five Novellas. Toronto: Coach House Books, 2022. (This book is an omnibus volume of the five books below).
Night Train to Nykøbing. Red Deer: Red Deer College Press, 1998.
The Rose Garden: Reading Marcel Proust. Red Deer: Red Deer College Press, 1996.
The Substance of Forgetting. Red Deer: Red Deer College Press, 1992.
Zero Hour. Red Deer: Red Deer College Press, 1991.
The Prowler. Red Deer: Red Deer College Press, 1989.
Translations of the above series:
Zero Hour was published in French translation as: Degré zéro. Transl. Anne Malena. Montréal: Leméac Édieurs, 1998.
The Prowler was published in French translation as: La maraude. Transl. Anne Malena. Montréal: Leméac Éditeurs, 1995.
Selections of the above series have appeared in various journals and anthologies.
Selected publications:
“From The Substance of Forgetting,” by Kristjana Gunnars. Writing on Air, ed. David Rothenberg and Wandee J. Pryor. A Terra Nova Book. Cambridge, Massachusetts: the MIT Press, 2003 (163-168). Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“From ‘The Cane Flute,’” by Kristjana Gunnars. Writing on Air, ed. David Rothenberg and Wandee J. Pryor. A Terra Nova Book. Cambridge, Massachusetts: the MIT Press, 2004 (107-115). Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Selections from The Prowler, selected and translated into Icelandic by Garðar Baldvinsson in Íslandslag, Íslenskökanadískar bókmenntir frá 1870 til nútímans, 2006 (321-32).
Publications: Poetry
Books and Chapbooks
112th Street Notebook. Baltimore: Akinoga Press, 2023 (Chapbook).
Ruins of the Heart. New York: Angelico Books, 2022.
At Home in the Mountains. The Junction, Ontario: Junction Books, 2019. [Chapbook]]
Snake Charmers. Ottawa: Above/Ground Press, 2016. [Chapbook]
Silence of the Country. Regina: Coteau Books, 2002.
Exiles Among You. Regina: Coteau Books, 1996.
Carnival of Longing. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1989.
The Night Workers of Ragnarök. Toronto: Press Porcépic, 1985.
Wake-pick Poems. Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 1981.
One-eyed Moon Maps. Victoria: Press Porcépic, 1980.
Water, Waiting. Toronto: Underwhich Editions, 1987. [Chapbook].
Books Edited, Academic
Transient Questions: New Essays on Mavis Gallant. Ed. Kristjana Gunnars. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2004. (Readings in the Post/Colonial Literatures in English series # 74).
Crossing the River: Essays in Honor of Margaret Laurence. Ed. and Intro. Kristjana Gunnars. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1988.
The Papers of Dorothy Livesay. Co-Authored with Richard Bennett and Pamela Banting. Winnipeg: Department of Archives and Special Collections, University of Manitoba Libraries, 1986.
Guest Editor, Prairie Fire, a Magazine of Canadian Writing. A Special Tribute to Robert Kroetsch. Vol. VIII, No. 4. Winter 1987-88.
Articles in Scholarly Journals
“Korean Han and its Historical Background.” Korean Studies Journal, University of Hawaii. 2023. Forthcoming.
“Þvermenningarlegt eignarnám: Vandamál og sjónarmið,” tr. into Icelandic by Katrín Vilborgardóttir Gunnarsdottir and Guðrún Björk Guðsteinsdóttir of “Transcultural Appropriation: Problems and Perspectives.” University of Iceland, Hugvísindastofnun. Ritid: Vol. 14, No. 1, 2014. Ed. Guðrún Guðsteinsdóttir and Úlfar Bragason. 169–187.
"Extreme Liminality: The Linked Stories of Édouard, Juliette, and Lena in Mavis Gallant's Overhead in a Balloon". Engaging With Literature of Commitment; Vol. 2, The Worldly Scholar. Ed. Gordon Collier, Marc Delrez, Anne Fuchs, and Bénédicte Ledent. Cross Cultures Series 149, Readings in Post/Colonial Literatures and Cultures in Engish. Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi, 2012. 87-104.
“Trans-East Asian Literature: Language and Displacement in Hong Ying, Hikaru Okuizumi, and Yi Mun-yol.” Reading Chinese Transnationalisms: Society, Literature, Film, Ed. Marian N. Ng and Philip Holden. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2006. 77-88.
“The Imagetext: On the All-inclusive Essay-Fiction Hybrid.” Literature Interpretation Theory, 16.4 (2005):431-439.
“Translation as Appropriation.” Rediscovering Canadian Difference. Ed. Guðrún Björk Guðdsteinsdóttir. Vol. 17, NACS Text Series. Reykjavík: NACS & VFI, 2001.
“Listening: Laurence’s Women.” Margaret Laurence: Critical Reflections. Ed. David Staines. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2001. 121-127.
"Canonization Practices and the Canadian Bookshelf." Essays on Canadian Writing 71 (2000): 232-240.
"Writing and Silence." Skrivingens Rom. Trondheim, Norway: University of Trondheim, 1998.
"The Idea of North and the Disclosure of Agency." Canada and the Nordic Countries. Ed. Jørn Carlsen. Volume 12. Denmark: U of Aarhus, 1997. 7-19.
"Translating the Subaltern." Canadian Ethnic Studies 29.3 (1997): 75-82.
"Life as Fiction: Narrative Appropriation in Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa." Isak Dinesen and Narrativity: Reassessments for the 1990s. Ed. Gurli A. Woods. Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1994. 25-35.
“Ethnicity and Canadian Women Writers.” Room of One’s Own: A Feminist Journal of Literature and Criticism 14:4 (1991): 40-50.
"The Hypothetical Text: Stephan G. Stephansson’s Autobiography." Canada and the Nordic Countries. Eds., Jørn Carlsen and Bengt Streijffert. Volume 2 of The Nordic Association for Canadian Studies Text Series. Lund: Lund University Press; Chartwell-Bratt, 1988. 109-22.
"Shepherding the Self: Love in the Autobiography of Gudny Jonsdottir." Canadian Women’s Studies / Les Cahiers de la Femme 9.2 (1988): 50-53.
"Avoidance and Confrontation: Excerpts from Notes on a Longpoem Poetics." Trace: Prairie Writers on Writing. Ed. Bill Sproxton. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1986. 187-92.
"Laura Goodman Salverson’s Confessions of a Divided Self." A Mazing Space: Writing Canadian Women Writing. Eds. Shirley Neuman and Smaro Kamboureli. Edmonton: Longspoon, 1986. 148-153.
Selected Reviews
Review of Pier Giorgio di Cicco, My Life Without Me. Winnipeg: Contemporary Verse 2, Vol. 41, Issue 1, Summer 2018: 74-5.
"Island Ideas." Review of Message in a Bottle: The Literature of Small Islands, Ed. L. Brinklow, F. Ledwell, J. Ledwell. University of British Columbia, Vancouver: Canadian Literature 183 (Winter 2004): 100-101.
Review, The Flying Tiger. Women Shamans and Storytellers of the Amur, ed. Kira Van Deusen." Toronto: University of Toronto Quarterly, Volume 72, Number 1, Winter 2002-3. University of Toronto Press. Pp. 361-362.
Selected Papers Presented at AcademicConferences
“The Body Remembers: the Case of Korean Hwabeyong.” Memory/Counter Memory: MSA Nordic Conference, Explorations in Counter Memory. University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. October 14, 2022.
“Extreme Liminality: Thomastic Thought in Three Short Stories by Mavis Gallant.” Reading Postcolonial Fiction: Tropes and Territory Conference, Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris, France. April 22, 2005.
“Poetry and the Idea of Home.” Neustadt Jury Symposium, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. October, 2003.
“Ambiguity in Stephansson: Language and the Idea of the Other.” Stephan G. Stephansson Conference, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. August, 2003.
“On Writing Short Books.” America and Transnationalism Conference. NTNU, Trondheim University. August 9, 2003.
“Transcultural Appropriation: Problems and Perspectives.” Chinese Transnationalism Conference, University of Alberta. October 12, 2001.
“Theory and Fiction: The Mixed Bag of Postmodernist Writing.” Department of English, University of Gøteborg, Gøteborg, Sweden. May 9, 2001.
“Translation as Appropriation.” Congress 2000, Confluence Conference. Faculté St. Jean, Edmonton, Alberta. May 22, 2000.
“Writing and Silence.” Critical Dialogue Series, Department of English, University of Alberta. February 17, 2000.
“The Separation of Text and Author.” Department of English, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario. February 1, 2000.
“Positioning Stephansson.” Nordic Association for Canadian Studies Conference, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. August, 1999.
“Narrative Strategies in Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water.” Scandinavian Association for Canadian Studies, Norwegian Chapter. University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. November 9, 1998.
“Writing and Silence.” Seminar on writing, conception and theory. University of Trondheim. Rørås, Norway. October 7, 1997. (Published in author’s absence).
“Theory and Fiction.” Seminar on the uses of theory in fiction; writing and reading. University of Trondheim. Steinkjer, Norway. April 19, 1997.
“The Idea of North and Disclosure in Contemporary Canadian Literature.” Keynote address. Nordic Association for Canadian Studies Conference, Aarhus, Denmark. August 25, 1996.
“Að Þýða Það Undirskipaða.” Translation of paper in English, “Translating the Subaltern,” translated by Rúnar Vignir Helgason. Stephan G. Stephansson Conference, Nordic House, Reykjavik, Iceland. May 25, 1996.
“Translating the Subaltern.” Keynote address. The Icelandic Connection Conference, Red Deer College, Red Deer, Alberta. October 20-22, 1995.
“Distraction/Pregnancy in Mavis Gallant’s Short Story ‘Bernadette’.” Aux Canadas Conference, University of Montreal, Quebec. April 18, 1993.
“Reaction to Mary Wollstonecraft’s Scandinavian Journey.” Wollstonefest ’92, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. January, 1992.
“Memory and Reconstruction in the Writing of Poetry.” University of Victoria, Department of Creative Writing, Victoria, B.C. January 10, 1992.
“Autobiography as Inferno: Strindberg in Paris.” Canadian Institute of Nordic Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. March 5, 1992.
“Reflections of the Self in the Canadian Arctic: Vilhjálmur Stefánsson’s Autobiography.” AASSC meeting during the Learneds, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. May, 1991.
“Life as Fiction: Narrative Appropriation in Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa.” Association for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study in Canada, meetings during the Learneds. University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C. May, 1990.
“The Hypothetical Text. Stephan G. Stephansson’s Autobiography.” Keynote Address. Canada and the Nordic Countries Conference, University of Lund, Lund, Sweden. August, 1987.
“Salverson’s Confessions of a Divided Self.” AASSC Conference during the Learneds, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba. May, 1986.
“Ethnic Lives as Emotional History in Martha Ostenso’s Wild Geese.” Department of Germanic Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. February, 1986.
“The Eye on the Metronome. New Canadian Poetry in Relation to Sculpture.” St. John’s Annual Literary Conference, St. John’s College, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba. March, 1985.
“The Poetry of Stephan G. Stephansson and the Immigrant Imagination.” CACLALS Conference during the Learneds, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. May, 1983.
Translations
Books
Bjarnadóttir, Birna. Recesses of the Mind; Aesthetics in the Work of Guðbergur Bergsson. Trans. Kristjana Gunnars. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press. Forthcoming January, 2012.
Gröndal, Benedikt. Some Fragments Concerning the Poetic. (1854) Chapbook-length essay. Trans. Kristjana Gunnars. Published as part of Steingrímur Eyfjörð’s exhibition “The Golden Plover has Arrived” at the Venice Biennale, 2007.
Stephansson, Stephan G. Stephan G. Stephansson: Selected Prose and Poetry. Trans. Kristjana Gunnars. Red Deer: Red Deer College Press, 1988.
Guðmundsson, Finnbogi. Stephan G. Stephansson: In Retrospect. Seven Essays. Trans. Kristjana Gunnars. Reykjavík: Icelandic Cultural Fund, 1982.
Translations in Journals
“Homecoming.” Poem by Edith Sødergran, translated from the Swedish. Louisiana: New Delta Review (9:1), 2001.
“Sandy Bar.” Poem by Guttormur Guttormsson. The Icelanders, ed. D. Arnason and M. Olito. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1981. Reprinted in Aurora, ed. Heather A. Ireland, 1994.
“The Thaw Rush.” Poem by Stephan G. Stephansson. Lyric sheet with Sun Over Darkness Prevail, “Stephan G. Stephansson poetry in translation put to song by Richard White.” Edmonton: tonic Records, 1984. Reprinted on the cover of Stephan G. Stephansson: In Retrospect, by Finnbogi Guðmundsson. Reykjavík: Menningarsjóður, 1982.
“A Taste of Destiny.” Chapter from the novel Dauðamenn by Njörður P. Njarðvík. Moonbeam, Ontario: Northward Journal 28, Fall 1983.
“Eruption in the Reading Room.” Short story by Hrafn Gunnlaugsson. Icelandic Writing Today. Reykjavík, 1982.
“Thanks,” “Fog,” “Cloud Sumphony.” Three poems by Steinar Sigurjónsson. Icelandic Writing Today. Reykjhavík, 1982.
From Love and Haddock, Chapter from a novel by Steinar Sigurjónsson. Icelandic Writing today, Reykjavík, 1982.
“Theology III,” “Postscript,” “Seamanship,” “Spring came with slush,” “Experiencepoem.” Five poems by Dagur Sigurðsson. Icelandic Writing today, Reykjavík, 1982.
“Street in the Rain.” Short story by Ásta Sigurðardóttir. Icelandic Writing Today, Reykjavík, 1982. Reprinted in Lögberg-Heimskringla (38), Fall, 1983 (Winnipeg).
The Chosen One.” Short story by Guðbergur Bergsson. Icelandic Writing today, Reykjavík, 1982.
“A Story From the Cold War.” Short story by Indriði G. þorsteinsson. Icelandic Writing Today, Reykjavík, 1982.
“Toast to Alberta,” “Margrėt Jónsdóttir from Tindastóll, Alberta.” Two poems by Stephan G. Stephansson, contained in an essay, “Icelandic Canadian Literature,” by David Arnason. Identifications: Ethnicity and the Writer in Canada. Ed. Jars Balan. Edmonton: The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, 1982.
“Christmas.” Chapter from Undir Kalstjörnu by Sigurður A. Magnússon. Lögberg-Heimskringla (95), December 1981 (Winnipeg).
“Toast to Alberta.” Poem by Stephan G. Stephansson. Stephansson House Historic Site. Pamphlet for the Alberta Culture Historic Sites Service, Summer 1981 (Edmonton).
“West-Icelanders.” Poem by Stephan G. Stephansson. Alberta Magazine, Summer 1980 (Calgary). Reprinted in The Icelanders, eds. D. Arnason and M. Olito. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1981.
Book-length cycles of poems published in journal instead of book-format:
"Reef." Cycle of 24 poems. Buffalo, New York: Paunch, 1984.
“Epistle of Wilderness.” Longpoem. Moonbeam, Ontario: Northward Journal, Winter 1983.
Publications: Short Fiction
Books
Any Day But This. Calgary: Red Deer Press, 2005.
The Guest House and Other Stories. Concord: House of Anansi Press, 1992.
Publications: on writing
Books
Stranger at the Door: Writers and the Act of Writing. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2004.
Poetry in Film (sample):
“Sunlamp” section from Carnival of Longing narrated in the film Zack & Luc, by Robert Gray, University of New Brunswick. Independent film, various granting agencies. 2013.
Selection of poetry reprinted in anthologies:
“the miracles that don’t show up”, “I feel the rose keep opening”, two poems from Ruins of the Heart reprinted in This Will Only Take a Minute; 100 Canadian Flashes. Ed. Bruce Meyer and Michael Mirolla. Hamilton: Guernica Editions, 2022.
“that is not a dream, this.” Poem in The Dominion of Love, ed. Tom Wayman. Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2000. (66)
“The Night Workers of Ragnarök.” Sequence from The Night Workers of Ragnarök. Translated into Icelandic by Sigurður A. Magnússon. Jón á Bægisá I: 1997. Reykjavík, 1997. (86-106)
“Exiles Among You” #’s 2, 7, 15, 47, 64. Five poems from Exiles Among You. Passport, an English Canadian poetry anthology. Ed. Endré Farkas. Montréal, Québec” The Muse’s Company, 1997.
“those subjected to radioactivity who did not die were marked for life.” Poem from The Night Workers of Ragnarök. Global Matters, ed. Ian Waldro and Nancy Steinhauer. New York: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1995. (26-7)
“in this kitchen.” Kitchen Talk, eds. Edna Alford and Claire Harris. Red Deer: Red Deer College Press, 1992.
Three poems from One-Eyed Moon Maps and selections from Settlement Poems, reprinted in Inspirations, an anthology of prairie poetry. Ed. Dennis Cooley. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1993.
Three poems from The Night Workers of Ragnarök. Poetry by Canadian Women. Ed. Rosemary Sullivan. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1989.
“wakepick XI,” “from memory I, II, XII,” “stefán eyjólfsson,” “a long production.” Poem from Wake-Pick Poems, four poems from Settlement Poems, and one poem from “Mistaken Masters.” Section Lines. Ed. Marc Duncan. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1988.
“stefán eyjólfsson I, XV.” Two poems from Settlement Poems. The New Canadian Poets 1970-85. Ed. Dennis Lee. Toronto: McLelland and Steward, 1985.
“changeling VIII,” “monkshood XXI, XXIII, XXIX,” “wakepick I,” “the dots of de dondi,” “coalface universe.” Five poems from Wake-Pick Poems. Canadian Poetry Now. Ed. Ken Norris. Toronto: Anansi, 1984.
“milky way vegetation II, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.” Women and Words: The Anthology. Ed. The West Coast Editorial Collective. Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 1984.
“wakepick I,” “chageling VIII.” Two poems from Wake-Pick Poems. The New Oxford Book of Canadia Verse in English. Ed. Margaret Atwood. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1982.
“jóhann briem II.” Poem from Settlement Poems. The Icelannders. Eds. David Arnason and Michael Olito. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1981.
Individual Poems in Journals:
Many individual poems, as well as cycles and groups of poems, are to be found in numerous literary and academic journals and book anthologies in Canada, the United States, Europe.
Selected sample:
"I tell myself such cold stories," poem from Silence of the Country. Published as an epigraph in Denholm, Derrick Stacey: Ground-Truthing: Reimagining the Indigenous Rainforest of BC's Northcoast. Caitlin Press, Halfmoon Bay, B.C., 2015.
"manifestation," poem from "Snake Charmers." Montréal, Québec: Vallum: Contemporary Poetry, winter, 2015.
"the names," poem from "Snake Charmers." Halifax, Nova Scotia: Dalhousie Review, Vol. 94: 3, Autumn, 2014.
"storm," "drops", two poems from "Snake Charmers." Antigonish, Nova Scotia: The Antigonish Review.
"Chair," "the world's limits." Two poems from "Snake Charmers." Windsor, Ontario: Rampike Magazine, (24:1), Spring, 2015.
“the suit.” Toronto, Ontario: Canada Woman Studies. 2002.
“The Novel,” “Admit One,” “the suit IV.” Montréal, Québec: Matrix. 2002.
“light.” Louisiana: New Delta Review (19,1). 2001.
“the shadow part.” Vancouver, B.C.: West Coast Line. Spring, 2001.
“silence of the country,” “ink stains.” Wales, UK: Poetry Wales. Summer, 2000.
“Sunday afternoon,” “Aarctic Cathedral,” “street corner.” Antigonish, Nova Scotia: Antigonish Review. Autumn, 1998.
“at the beach, “quiet of the morning.” Ottawa, Ontario: Arc. Autumn, 1998.
“Exiles Among You” (three poems from Exiles Among You). Sault Ste. Marie, Québec: Rampike, 1997.
“Photographic Memory.” Deakin University, Australia: Mattoid. 1998.
“casualty.” Oxford, UK/Charstoen, South Carolina: Verse. 1987.
"Poverty Lines." Vancouver: Canadian Literature 100 (Spring 1984): 120-121.
“north country wake 6,8,9.” (Three poems). Toronto, Ontario: Poetry Canada Review (6:1). Fall, 1984.
“the dots of de dondi. Montréal, Québec: Agenda 84 (The Muse’s Company). July, 1983.
From "Whale Constellations." Vancouver: Canadian Literature 90 (Autumn 1981): 107-110.
Poetry in Film (sample):
“Sunlamp” section from Carnival of Longing narrated in the film Zack & Luc, by Robert Gray, University of New Brunswick. Independent film, various granting agencies. 2013.
Selection of poetry reprinted in anthologies:
“the miracles that don’t show up”, “I feel the rose keep opening”, two poems from Ruins of the Heart reprinted in This Will Only Take a Minute; 100 Canadian Flashes. Ed. Bruce Meyer and Michael Mirolla. Hamilton: Guernica Editions, 2022.
“that is not a dream, this.” Poem in The Dominion of Love, ed. Tom Wayman. Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2000. (66)
“The Night Workers of Ragnarök.” Sequence from The Night Workers of Ragnarök. Translated into Icelandic by Sigurður A. Magnússon. Jón á Bægisá I: 1997. Reykjavík, 1997. (86-106)
“Exiles Among You” #’s 2, 7, 15, 47, 64. Five poems from Exiles Among You. Passport, an English Canadian poetry anthology. Ed. Endré Farkas. Montréal, Québec” The Muse’s Company, 1997.
“those subjected to radioactivity who did not die were marked for life.” Poem from The Night Workers of Ragnarök. Global Matters, ed. Ian Waldro and Nancy Steinhauer. New York: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1995. (26-7)
“in this kitchen.” Kitchen Talk, eds. Edna Alford and Claire Harris. Red Deer: Red Deer College Press, 1992.
Three poems from One-Eyed Moon Maps and selections from Settlement Poems, reprinted in Inspirations, an anthology of prairie poetry. Ed. Dennis Cooley. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1993.
Three poems from The Night Workers of Ragnarök. Poetry by Canadian Women. Ed. Rosemary Sullivan. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1989.
“wakepick XI,” “from memory I, II, XII,” “stefán eyjólfsson,” “a long production.” Poem from Wake-Pick Poems, four poems from Settlement Poems, and one poem from “Mistaken Masters.” Section Lines. Ed. Marc Duncan. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1988.
“stefán eyjólfsson I, XV.” Two poems from Settlement Poems. The New Canadian Poets 1970-85. Ed. Dennis Lee. Toronto: McLelland and Steward, 1985.
“changeling VIII,” “monkshood XXI, XXIII, XXIX,” “wakepick I,” “the dots of de dondi,” “coalface universe.” Five poems from Wake-Pick Poems. Canadian Poetry Now. Ed. Ken Norris. Toronto: Anansi, 1984.
“milky way vegetation II, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.” Women and Words: The Anthology. Ed. The West Coast Editorial Collective. Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 1984.
“wakepick I,” “chageling VIII.” Two poems from Wake-Pick Poems. The New Oxford Book of Canadia Verse in English. Ed. Margaret Atwood. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1982.
“jóhann briem II.” Poem from Settlement Poems. The Icelannders. Eds. David Arnason and Michael Olito. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1981.
Publications: Short Fiction
Books
Any Day But This. Calgary: Red Deer Press, 2005.
The Guest House and Other Stories. Concord: House of Anansi Press, 1992.
Publications: Individual Short Stories in Literary Journals and Anthologies:
“The Piano Player.” Microfiction. In Release Any Words Stuck Inside of You II. (Anthology). Applebeard Editions, 2019.
”The Believer." Prairie Fire Magazine 40, Special Edition. Winnipeg: Summer, 2018.
"Winter Gales." The Capilano Review 2.30 (2000): 88-97.
"Zoo." Threshold: An Anthology of Contemporary Writing from Alberta. Ed. Srdja Pavlovic. Edmonton: U of Alberta P, 1999. 169-176.
"Insomnia." Unexpected Fictions: New Icelandic Canadian Writing. Ed. Kristjana Gunnars. Turnstone P, 1989. 43-52. Reprinted in Gunnars, The Guest House 87-96. Reprinted in Icelandic translation by Sigurður A. Magnússon, in Jón á Bægisá 1 (1997): 81-85.
"Forged Letters." Inter-Plays: Works and Words of Writers and Critics. Eds. Rolf Althof, Rurick von Antropoff and Klaus Peter Muller. St. John's: Breakwater, 1994. 215-219.
"Night Flight." Exile 18.1 (1994): 67-82.
"Dreamwoman." Boundless Alberta: An Anthology of Alberta Writing. Ed. Aritha Van Herk. Edmonton: NeWest Press, 1993. 387-398.
"The Falls." Prairie Schooner 67.4 (1993): 126-133.
"Postcards." Canadian Fiction Magazine 82 (1993): 34-43.
"Sorrow Cow." North Dakota Quarterly (1993): 86-89. Reprinted in Gunnars, The Guest House 49-56.
"Mass and a Dance." Out of Place. Eds. Ven Begamudré and Judith Krause. Coteau Books, 1991. 49-55. Reprinted in Gunnars, The Guest House 73-86. Reprinted in Pens of Many Colors. Eds. Eva C. Karpinski and Ian Lea. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1993. 352-359. Also translated into Chinese 1994.
"Cocoon." Hard Times: A New Fiction Anthology. Ed. Beverly Daurio. Stratford: The Mercury Press, 1990. 86-90.
"The Empty Schoolroom." Canadian Forum 71.783 (Oct. 1990): 23-6. Reprinted in Gunnars, The Guest House 33-48.
"Water." Massachusetts Review 31.1-2 (1990): 144-152. Reprinted in Gunnars, The Guest House 19-32.
"Guest House." Canadian Fiction Magazine 70 (1990): 33-41. Reprinted in Gunnars, The Guest House 1-18.
"Rain." Secrets from the Orange Couch 3.1 (1990): 25-27.
"Pall Johansson, Fatalist." Puzzle. Winnipeg: Peguis Publishers, 1986. 65-73. Reprinted in Vol. 3 of Pieces of the Jigsaw / Puzzle: A Multicultural Anthology for Young Readers. 3 Vols. 1986.
"Tomas Jonasson, Jazz." Arts Manitoba 3.1 (1982): 65-69. Reprinted in Gunnars, The Axe’s Edge 77-84.
"Holiday, My Bone." Lögberg-Heimskringla 3 Dec. 1982: 4-5, 8. Reprinted in Gunnars, The Axe’s Edge 85-93.
"The Song of the Reindeer." Icelandic Writing Today Sept. 1982: 34-36. Reprinted in Gunnars, The Guest House 97-112. Published in Icelandic as "Söngur hreindýrssins," translation by Garðar Baldvinsson in Íslandslag, Íslensk-kanadískar bókmenntir frá 1870 til nútímans, 2006, 333-39.
"Sveinborg Sigfusdottir, Grasses." Lögberg-Heimskringla 14 May 1982: 6, 8. Reprinted in Gunnars, The Axe’s Edge 61-68.
"Petúr Árnason, Roundup." Lögborg-Heimskringla 9 Oct. 1981: 5-6. Reprinted in Gunnars, The Axe’s Edge 17-22.
"Tíminn og Vindurinn." Translated into Icelandic by Kristján Jónsson. Lesbók Morgunblaðsins 39, 5 Dec. 1981.
"Halfdán Sigmundsson, Guest." Canadian Fiction Magazine 36 / 37 (1980): 39-45. Reprinted in Gunnars, The Axe’s Edge 37-46.
"Kolla, Ticks." NeWest Review 5.6 (1980): 8-9. Reprinted in Sundogs: Stories from Saskatchewan. Ed. Robert Kroetsch. Regina: Coteau Books, 1981. 49-54. Reprinted in Gunnars, The Axe’s Edge 69-76. Reprinted in The Last Map is the Heart. Eds. G. Sorestand, P. O'Rourke and A. Forrie Saskatoon: Thistledown P, 1989. 88-93.
"Friðrik Sviensson, Mice." The Canadian Forum 59.694 (Nov. 1979): 20-22. Reprinted in Gunnars, The Axe’s Edge 29-36. Reprinted as "Mice" in Manitoba Heritage Review 1.1 (1984): 14-17.
Publications: West Iceland
Books
Unexpected Fictions: New Icelandic Canadian Writing. Ed. and Intro. Kristjana Gunnars. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1989. [anthology]
The Axe’s Edge. Toronto: Press Porcépic, 1983. [short stories]
Settlement Poems 2. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1980. [poetry]
Settlement Poems 1. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1980. [poetry]
Radio Productions
“Looking West.” Series of ten radio programs: interviews with Icelandic Canadians, in Icelandic.
Produced, gathered and taped with Gunnlaugur Ólafsson.
Broadcast on the National Radio of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland. Winter 1985.
This project consisted of travelling to the West-Icelandic communities in the Manitoba Interlakes, North Dakota and Winnipeg, and interviewing Canadians of Icelandic descent.
Also, editing tapes at the CBC Studios in Winnipeg with the assistance of CBC technicians, and the arrangement of theme music and musical intervals.
Duration of each program is 50 minutes.
Publications: on writing
Books
Stranger at the Door: Writers and the Act of Writing. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2004.
AWARDS; SELECTED
1998: Nominated for the Alberta Writers’ Guild Book of the Year, the George Bugnet Award for Night Train to Nykøbing.
1996: Alberta Writers’ Guild Best Poetry Award (Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry) for Exiles Among You.
1996: Alberta Writers’ Guild Best Fiction Award, the George Bugnet Award, for The Rose Garden.
1995: Anne Malena’s translation, La Maraude, of The Prowler by Kristjana Gunnars nominated for the Governor General’s Award for Translation (English to French).
1992: Nominated for the Alberta Writers’ Guild Book of the Year Award for The Substance of Forgetting.
1991: Nominated for the Governor General’s Award for Nonfiction for Zero Hour.
1990: Nominated for the Alberta Publisher’s Association 1989 Book of the year Award for The Prowler.
1990: Nominated for the W.H. Smith/Books in Canada 1989 First Novel Award for The Prowler.
1989: The McNally Robinson Manitoba Book of the Year for The Prowler.
1988: Second place, CBC Literary Prize for Poetry, for cycle of poems included in Carnival of Longing.
1980: Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild Annual Literary Awards, Third prize, poetry.
Juries
Kristjana Gunnars has served on numerous juries and consultation committees. Here are a few of them:
Sunshine Coast Arts Council exhibition jury member, 2013. Sechelt, B.C.
Gibsons Public Art Gallery exhibition jury, jury member for two years, 2011 and 2012. Gibsons, B.C.
Neustadt International Literary Prize, jury member for the 2004 prize. University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma.
Canadian Governor General’s Award for Poetry, jury member for three years. Ottawa.
Service on juries for the Alberta Book Awards and the Saskatchewan Book Awards. Edmonton, Alberta and Regina, Saskatchewan at various times over the course of twenty years.
Also: service on juries for the Archibald Lampman Awards (poetry) in Ottawa; The Canada Council Grants to Writers in Ottawa; the Kalamalka Writers Competition (poetry) in Vernon, B.C. (three times); the Grain prose poem competition in Saskatoon; the Other Voices poetry competition in Edmonton; the Alberta Foundation for the Arts in Edmonton; the Government of Alberta Culture and Multiculturalism in Edmonton; the Canadian Authors’ Association (poetry) in Ottawa; the Grain prose and poetry and postcard story competitions in Regina; as well as serving as a consultant for the Department of Multiculturalism in Ottawa and the Secretary of State Multiculturalism Directorate in Ottawa.
A brief list of contributions to books in the form of introductions and afterwords:
Ross, Sinclair. The Well. Introduction by Kristjana Gunnars. Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press, 2001
Brask, Per, Ed. and Trans. Anthology of Modern Danish Literature. Introduction by Kristjana Gunnars. Ottawa: Cormorant Books, 1991.
Grove, Frederick Philip, Settlers of the Marsh. Afterword by Kristjana Gunnars. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, New Canadian Library, 1989.
Public Lectures
Aside from the many readings given in a variety of settings (university halls, classrooms, bookstores, auditoriums, etc.), and the many papers presented at conferences and congresses in Canada, The United States and Europe, Gunnars has given public lectures on subjects of literature, literary history, theory and art, most recently:
"Preparing, Launching and Maintaining an Art Career." Two talks at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery, Gibsons, B.C., July 15 and 22, 2014.
“Understanding Contemporary Art Movements.” Seven lectures on contemporary art, presented at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery, Gibsons, B.C., January through July, 2011.
“Abstract Art.” Three lectures on abstract art, presented at the Gallery 5 in Roberts Creek, B.C., in December 2007.
Film
Narrator, Shipbuilder, a short film by Stephen Surjik. National Film Board of Canada, 1985.
Selection of other public talks and presentations:
“What we talk about when we talk about writing.” Oxygen Arts Center, Nelson, B.C. October 25, 2019.
“The Meaning of the Norse Withdrawal from Vinland.” Icelandic Association of Minnesota. Minneapolis, Minnesota. October 12, 2019.
"Translating language; translating culture; translating civilization. On how many levels does a translation occur?" Páll Guðmundssson Memorial Scholarship Lecture Series, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba. September 2005.
“Sinclair Ross: the Reissue of The Well.” Orlando Books, Edmonton, Alberta. November, 2002.
“NeWest Press, 25 Years.” Commemorative presentation. Telus Center for Professional Development, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. March 22, 2002.
“The Contribution of Icelanders to Canadian Culture.” Icelandic President’s Discussion Seminar, Terminal City Club, Vancouver, B.C. August 15, 2000.
“Narrative Strategies in Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water.” Teachers’ Union of Oslo, English Division. Pilestrœdet 57, Oslo. Teaching Native literature in English programs. November 12, 1998.
“The Dislocated Imagination.” The Apeiron Philosophical Society, Calgary, Alberta. November 6, 1997.
“Autobiography and Fiction.” Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, California. January, 1994.
“Ethnicity and Fiction.” Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, California. January, 1994.
“Bernskudagar as a Source of Information on the Old Women’s Culture in Iceland.” The Richard Beck Lectures. University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C. October, 1990.
“Writings of Second Generation People: How do Canadian Writers Deal with Unknown Ancestry?” The Richard Beck Lectures. University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C. October, 1990.
“Relationships Between the Explorations and Writings of Vilhjálmur Stefánsson and His Icelandic Saga Heritage.” The Richard Beck Lectures. University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C. October, 1990.
“Poetry and the Individual Voice.” Canadian Authors’ Association, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. November, 1989.
“Icelandic Women in Canadian Politics and the Women’s Suffrage Movement.” National Democratic Party Dinner to Honor Women in the NDP. Regina, Saskatchewan. March, 1988. (Address read by NDP party member in author’s absence).
“Dorothy Livesay as Autobiographer.” Discovery Hour, Department of Archives and Special Collections, Elizabeth Dafoe Library, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba. November, 1985.
“Nordic Settlement in Greenland Between 982 and 1408.” Slide lecture. Gimli, Manitoba. September, 1983.
“The Arnamagnean Collection in Reykjavik.” Slide lecture on 14th-15th Century manuscripts of Icelandic Sagas. Department of English, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan. February, 1977.
Small selection of public readings given:
Litfest Alberta. Reading and interview with Cody Caetano. October 16, 2025. Online.
Book launch, The Scent of Light. Reading and interview with Kazim Ali. May 18, 2022. Online.
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. UofA Writer in Residence 40 year celebrations. With 9 other WIR alumni. March 3, 2016.
Oxygen Arts Centre, Nelson, B.C. October 22, 2019.
Centre Culturel Canadien, Paris, France. Mavis Gallant, Kristjana Gunnars, Janice Kulyk Keefer. Friday April 22, 2005.
Winnipeg International Writers’ Festival. “Ice and Fire” Gala Reading. Planetarium Auditorium, Winnipeg, Manitoba October 13, 2000.
Winnipeg International Writers’ Festival. Artspace, Winnipeg, Manitoba. October 12, 2000.
Women’s Research Institute, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. March 7, 1997.
Les Boréales de Normandie, presentation. Caen, France. November 22, 1996.
National Library of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario. “Canada Book Week.” May 2, 1994.
University of Montreal. Montréal, Québec. Aux Canadas Conference. April 17, 1993.
Vancouver International Writers’ Festival. Vancouver, B.C. October 22 and 25, 1992.
22nd University of North Dakota Writers’ Conference. “The Literatures of Canada.” University of North Dakota, March 18-22, 1991.
World Poetry Festival. Harbourfront, Toronto, Ontario. April 2-8, 1990
UNESCO Migration Conference. Glenbow Museum. In conjunction with “Ethnic Studies Conference.” Palliser Hotel, Calgary, Alberta. October, 1989.
Midwest Booksellers’ Association Book Fair. Minneapolis, Minnesota. September, 1989.
Kjarvalsstadir. Reykjavik, Iceland. August, 1982.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
WRITINGS ABOUT THE WORK OF KRISTJANA GUNNARS
Books that include studies of Gunnars’ works:
Gardner, Calum. Poetry & Barthes, Anglophone Responses 1970-2000. Liverpool University Press, 2018.
Quynn, Kristina. "Reading and Writing in Kristjana Gunnars's Rose Garden." In Reading and Writing Experimental Texts, ed. Robin Silbergleid and Kristina Quynn. Springer International Publishing, 2017, (Germany).
MacDonald, Tanis. The Daughter’s Way; Canadian Women’s Paternal Elegies. Ottawa: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2012. (Finalist for the 2012 ACQL Gabrielle Roy Prize for Literary Criticism).
MacDonald, Tanis. "Gateway Politics: West Meets West in Kristjana Gunnars' 'Zero Hour'." In The Last Best West, Exploration of Myth, Identity and Quality of Life in Western Canada, ed. Anne Gagnon et al. New Star Books, 2009.
Cook, Méira. Writing Lovers; Reading Canadian Love Poetry by Women. Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University press, 2005. (Based on her Ph.D. Dissertation).
Moyes, Lianne. Adjacencies. Essay Series 49. Montreal: Guernica Editions, 2004.
Sturgess, Charlotte. Redefining the Subject: Sites of Play in Canadian Women’s Writing. Amsterdam: Editions Rodopi, 2003.
Beautell, Eva Darias. Graphies and Grafts: (con)texts and (inter)texts in the fiction of four contemporary Canadian women. Issue 3 of New Comparative Poetics, Nouvelle Poétique Comparatiste. London: P.I.E.-Peter Lang, 2001.
Lonnecke, Annette. Anglo-kanadische Autobiographien der Postmoderne: Radikale Formen der Selbstportratierung von John Glassco bis Kristjana Gunnars. Frankfurt am Main and New York: Peter Lang, 1999.
Keahy, Deborah. Making It Home: Place in Canadian Prairie Literature. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1998.
Arnason, David. The Icelandic Voice in Canadian Letters: The Contribution of Icelandic-Canadian Writers to Canadian Literature. Ottawa: Carleton, 1997.
Zimmermann, Jutta. Metafiktion im anglokanadischen Roman der Gegenwart. Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, 1996.
Beautell, Eva Darias. "Memory, Experience and Difference in the Works of Some Contemporary Canadian Women Writers." In The Guises of Canadian Diversity, New European Perspectives/ Masques de la Diversité Canadienne. Ed. Jaunais, Serge and Marc Manafort. Cross/Cultures 19. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1995.
Selection of academic studies of Gunnars’ works, as well as articles that include analyses of them inside broader contexts, culled from various scholarly journals and anthologies:
Gardner, Calum. "'I have heard of the end of writing': Kristjana Gunnars and Roland Barthes." British Journal of Canadian Studies, Vol. 31, Issue 1. March, 2018. Pp. 63-79.
Guðsteinsdóttir, Guðrún Björk. "Þýðing, sköpun, aðlögun? Smásagan 'Guest' í The Axe´s Edge eftir Kristjönu Gunnars." In Milli Mála, Ársrit Stofnunar Vigdísar Finnbogadóttur í erlendum tungumálum. 2nd ed. Ed. Erla Erlendsdóttir and Rebekka Þráinsdóttir. Reykjavík: Háskólaútgáfan, 2010. Pp. 49-70.
O’Flynn, Siobhan. “Challenging the Cartesian Self: Autobiography as an intertextual/interrelational discourse in the works of Aritha van Herk and Kristjana Gunnars.” Routledge: Rethinking History 13.1 (March 2009): 65-78.
Rodriguez, Pedro M. Carmona. "Beyond the Edge of the Century: The Postcolonial Imagination in the 'New' Fictions of the Canadas." In Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies 38 (2008), pp. 29-45. University of Zaragoza, Spain.
Rodríguez, Pedro M. Carmona. “‘A Drowning Consummation’: Jouissance, Desire and Seduction in Kristjana Gunnars’ The Substance of Forgetting and Aritha van Herk’s Restlessness.” In Fifty Years of English Studies in Spain [...] Actas del XXVI Congreso de AEDEAN, ed. Ignacio Palacios et al. Santiago de Compostela: U de Santiago de Compostela, 2003. 235-41.
Porter, J.S. "Kristjana Gunnars & the Book of Small." Antigonish Review 113 (1998): 77-84. Rpt. in Spirit Book Word: An Inquiry into Literature and Spirituality by J.S. Porter. Toronto: Novalis, 2002.
Neijmann, Daisy L. "‘Cracking the Boundaries’: Icelandic-Canadian Challenges to Canadian Literature." ‘The Third Solitude’: Canadian Minority Writing. Proceedings of ‘The Third Solitude’ Conference on Canadian Minority Writing. Guernica Editions [2002].
Rodríguez, Carmona M. Pedro. “En Route: Narratives of Travel and Displacement in Contemporary Candian Writing.” Journal of English Studies, Vol. 3 (2001-2): 21-35.
Guðsteinsdóttir, Guðrún Björk. "Stúlkan með Botticelliandlitið og ásýnd íslenskrar bókmenningar." Heimur Skáldsögunnar, ed. Ástráður eysteinsson. Reykjavík: Bókmenntastofnun Háskola Íslands, 2001. (170-181)
Rosica, Karen. "How to Read Kristjana Gunnars." Bloomsbury Review 20.5 (2000): 3-4.
Neijmann, Daisy. "Icelandic-Canadian Literature and Anglophone Minority Writing in Canada." World Literature Today: A Literary Quarterly of the University of Oklahoma 73.2 (1999): 245-55.
Verduyn, Christl. “Stor(y)ing Cultural Difference, Rediscovering Canada.” Paper on Kristjana Gunnars and Aritha Van Herk. Presented to the Nordic Associaton for Canadian Studies Conference, Reykjavík, Iceland. August, 1999.
Porter, J.S. “Kristjana Gunnars & the Book of Small.” The Antigonish Review, Number 113, Spring, 1998. (77-84).
Cook, Méira. "Love and Other Unofficial Stories: Reading Kristjana Gunnars." Open Letter 10.2 (1998): 19-30.
Legge, Valerie. “Kristjana Gunnars’ Zero Hour: ‘When Mourning Becomes Language’”. Essays In Comparative Literature (1998): 311-325.
Keahey, Deborah. Making it Home: Place in Canadian Prairie Literature. U Manitoba P, 1998.
Guðsteinsdóttir, Guðrún Björk. “The Legacy of Gimlé: Pacifism in Icelandic-Canadian Literature.” Icelanders in Canada: A Story of Integration. Ed. Daisy Neijmann. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1998.
Legge, Valerie. “The Poetics of Passing in Kristjana Gunnars’ The Prowler.” Presented at the PCA/ACH Conference, San Antonio, Texas. March 27-29, 1997.
Baldvinsson, Garðar. "Orð og Ferðatöskur." Jón á Bægisá. Ed. Sigurður A. Magnússon. No. 1, 1997. 29-46.
Arnason, David. "Community and Identity in Icelandic-Canadian Literature." Scandinavian-Canadian Studies 10 (1997): 53-75.
Padolsky, Enoch. "‘Olga in Wonderland’: Canadian Ethnic Minority Writing and Post-colonial Theory." Canadian Ethnic Studies 28.3 (1996): 16 -29.
Verduyn, Christl. "Memory Work / Migrant Writing Mediating Me / Moi: Van Herk, Gunnars, Ltaif, Bosco." Intersexions: Issues of Race and Gender in Canadian Women’s Writing. Ed. Coomi S. Vevaina and Barbara Godard. New Delhi: Creative, 1996. 244-53.
Roberson, Matthew M. “Searching for Unity of Self: Kristjana Gunnars’s The Prowler.” UMW Literary Studies Symposium Series, Fall 1995.
Darias Beautell, Eva. "Memory, Experience and Difference in the Works of Some Contemporary Canadian Women Writers." The Guises of Canadian Diversity: New European Perspectives - Les Masques de la diversité: nouvelles perspectives européennes. Ed. Serge Jaumain and Marc Maufort. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1995. 143-150.
Gross, Konrad. "The Burden of Memory: Ethnic Literature in Germany and Canada." Multiculturalism in North America and Europe. Ed. Hans Braun and Wolfgang Klooss. Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 1995. 115-131.
Guðsteinsdóttir, Guðrún Björk. "Wakepick Weavers: Laura G. Salverson and Kristjana Gunnars." Canada and the Nordic Countries. Ed. Jørn Carlsen. Denmark: U of Aarhus, 1995.
Keefer, Janice Kulyk. "The Prowler." Brick: A Literary Journal 51 (1995): 52-57.
Woods, Gurli A. "The Space in the Margins: Suzanne Brogger’s No Man’s Land: Kristjana Gunnars’ The Substance of Forgetting and Aritha Van Herk’s Places Far from Ellesmere." Transcultural Trends: Essays in Canadian Literature and Society. Ed. Mari Peepre-Bordessa. Vol. 11 of the Nordic Association for Canadian Studies Text Series. Lund: Lund University Press, 1994. 111-125.
Adam, Ian. "Illywhacker and The Prowler: Settler Society Response to Ideas of History." Australian and New Zealand Studies in Canada 12 (1994): 1-10.
Althof, Rolf. "Kristjana Gunnars’s Alternative Realities: The Page as Stage for Narrative Paradoxes." Interplays: Works and Words of Writers and Critics. Ed. R.Althof, R. von Antropoff and K.P Muller. St. John’s Newfoundland: Breakwater, 1994. 220-230.
Coleman, Daniel. "Gender, Narrative, and Desire in The Prowler." Textual Studies in Canada / Etudes Textuelles au Canada 4 (1994): 16-27.
Buss, Helen. Mapping Our Selves: Canadian Women’s Autobiography in English. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s UP, 1993. 197-99.
Gheorghe, Christina. "Intertextual Notes in a Metafictional Autobiography: The Prowler by Kristjana Gunnars." Scandinavian Canadian Studies Etudes Scandinaves au Canada 4 (1991): 43-49.
Lent, John. "Staring into Snow: Subjectivity and Design in Kristjana Gunnars’ The Prowler." Recherches Anglaises et Nord Americaines 24 (1991): 103-15.
Owens, Judith. "‘Drawing / In’: Wholeness and Dislocation in the Work of Kristjana Gunnars." Contemporary Manitoba Writers: New Critical Studies. Ed. Kenneth James Hughes. Winnipeg: Turnstone, 1990. 64-78.
Brydon, Diana. "The White Inuit Speaks: Contamination as Literary Strategy." Past the Last Post: Theorizing Post-Colonialism and Post-Modernism. Ed. Ian Adam and Helen Tiffin. Calgary: U of Calgary P, 1990. 191-203.
Hjartarson, Paul. "Transformation of the ‘I’: Self and Community in the Poetry of Kristjana Gunnars." Canada and the Nordic Countries. Ed. Jørn Carlsen and Bengt Streijffert. Vol. 2 of The Nordic Association for Canadian Studies Text Series. Lund: Lund UP, Chartwell Bratt, 1988. 123-37.
McVey, Moray. "The Emergence of a Canadian Voice in the Settlement Poems of Kristjana Gunnars." Lögberg-Heimskringla 19 Sept. 1986: 8-10.
Fairbanks, Carol. Prairie Women: Images in American and Canadian Fiction. New Haven: Yale UP, 1986.
Lane, Travis M. "Troll Turning: Poetic Voice in the Poetry of Kristjana Gunnars." Canadian Literature 105 (1985): 59-68.
Arnason, David. "Icelandic Canadian Literature." Identifications: Ethnicity and the Writer in Canada. Ed. Jars Balan. Edmonton: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, U of Alberta P, 1982. 52-66.
Dissertations and theses that include studies of Gunnars’ works:
Gardner, Calum. Roland Barthes and English-language avant-garde poetry, 1970-1990. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University, Britain, 2016.
Paleczek, Elisabeth. Identity and memory in the works of Laura Goodman Salverson and Kristjana Gunnars. M.A. thesis, University of Vienna, Austria, 2013.
Kristjánsdóttir, Helga Sóley. Snuðarinn. Þýðing úr ensku á skáldsögunni The Prowler eftir Kristjönu Gunnars og umfjöllun um tengsl menningar vid þýðingar. M.A. Thesis, University of Iceland, 2010.
Hinnerová, Katarína. Food as a Transcultural Metaphor. Food Imagery and Ethnocultural Identities in Contemporary Multicultural Women Writing in Canada. Dissertation for Dept of English and American Studies, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University of Brno, Czech Republic, 2007.
O'Flynn, Siobhan Louise. Place and Identity in Auto-topographic Metanarrative. PhD Dissertation, University of Toronto, 2004.
Cold-Ravnkilde, Sofie. Northern Voices Telling Histories of Danish (Post)Colonialism. M.A. Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2004.
Younka, Reina. "The Negotiations of hybridity: Kristjana Gunnars's The Prowler, Maria Campbell's Halfbreed, and Dionne Brand's In Another Place, Not Here." University of Manitoba, 2003.
Karwalaitys, Tina. Resting Places: Making Meaning in Autobiographical Metafiction; Form, Process and Reader-Response in Kristjana Gunnars’ The Prowler and Michael Ondaatje’s Running in the Family. M.A. Thesis, McMaster University, 2000.
Libin, Mark Ira. Commencement Exercises: Toward Beginnings in English-Canadian Literature. Ph.D. Dissertation. U of Manitoba, 1999.
Boucher, Rémi. A Comparative Post-Colonial Reading of Kristjana Gunnars’ The Prowler and Robert Kroetsch’s What the Crow Said. B.A. Thesis, University of Sherbrooke, 1999.
Cook, Méira. Speaking in Tongues: Contemporary Canadian Love Poetry by Women. Ph.D. Dissertation. U of Manitoba, 1998.
Bricker, Margaret S. Feminism, Postmodernism, and Contemporary Canadian Writing by Women (Daphne Marlatt, Aritha van Herk, Kristjana Gunnars). M.A. Thesis, Carleton U, 1996.
Budd, Adam Russell. Playing Within the Discipline: Dynamics of Authorship in Three Canadian Autobiographies. M.A. Thesis, University of Victoria, 1995.
Pálsdóttir, Anna Heiða. In the Trail of Ghosts: Kristjana Gunnars’ Improvisations on History in Settlement Poems 1 and 2 and The Axe’s Edge. B.A. Thesis, U of Iceland. 1995.
Neijmann, Daisy. Icelandic Canadian Literature. Ph.D. Dissertation. Free U of Amsterdam, Holland, 1994.
Bamber, Candace Marie. Voices in My Head: A Reader’s Reflections on Works by Gunnars, Penelope and Rich. M.A. Thesis, University of Alberta, 1993.
Malena, Anne. "The Prowler" de Kristjana Gunnars: Traduction et Commentaire. M.A. Thesis, McMaster U, 1991.
“The Guest House.” Translated into French by Leslie Termens as part of a Masters Degree in Translation thesis for the Université Sorbonne, Paris, France.
1990.
Print interviews:
Eagle, Jennifer. "Myriads of Stars: an Interview with Kristjana Gunnars." Prairie Fire 15.1 (1994): 22-26.
Williamson, Janice. "In That Gap Where One Searches, the Muse Hangs Around...." Breaking the Silence: Conversations with Seventeen Canadian Women Writers. Ed. Janice Williamson. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1992. 95-109.
Gheorghe, Cristina. "Interview with Kristjana Gunnars about The Prowler." Scandinavian Canadian Studies Etudes Scandinaves au Canada 4 (1991): 51-59.
Magnusson, Sigurdur A. "Islensk skaldkona i Kanada." Tjodlif [Reykjavik] 6.4 (Apr. 1990): 28-32.
Murphy, Paul. "Kristjana Gunnars: Voicing the Silence." Gateway (University of Alberta). 2 Nov. 1989: 8-9.
Casey, Jane. "An Interview with Kristjana Gunnars." Contemporary Verse Two 8.3 (1984): 36-39.
Demchuk, David. "‘Holding Two Ropes’: Interview with Kristjana Gunnars." Writers News Manitoba / Prairie Fire 5.2-3 (1984): 32-37.
Líndal, Tryggvi V. "Gagnrýnendur - eins og tómt skothylki." Interview with Kristjana Gunnars (in Icelandic). Morgunbla x i x [Reykjavík, Iceland] 16 Aug. 1981: 20.
Valgardson, W.D. "Interview with Kristjana Gunnars." Lögberg-Heimskringla 16 Jan. 1981: 5.
On-line interviews:
McLennan, Rob. "U of Alberta writers-in-residence interviews: Kristjana Gunnars (1989-1990)". rob mclennan's blog. Friday, February 19, 2016.
Lemay, Shawna. “In Conversation with Kristjana Gunnars.” Canadian Poetries, an online poetry journal. November 28, 2012.
McLennan, Rob. “12 or 20 Questions with Kristjana Gunnars.” 12 or 20 Questions, rob mclennan’s main blog. Sunday, September 16, 2007.
NOTICES IN JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES
Labrecque, Marie. Kristjana Gunnars: Degré Zéro. Montréal, Québec: Voir, 28 January, 1999.