Til Sólskinsbarna by H. Guðjónsson frá Laxnesi.
Image courtesy of the Icelandic Special Collections, University of Manitoba Libraries
A letter titled “Til Sólskinsbarna” (“To the Sunshine Children”) written by H. Guðjónsson frá Laxnesi, the pen name of Halldór Laxness, at the age of 14. Published in the children’s newspaper Sólskin in November 1916, this heartfelt piece is among the first published writings by the future Nobel Prize-winning author.
In the letter, young Laxness thanks the “Sunshine Children” in the West for their previous letter and reflects poetically on the arrival of autumn in Iceland. He describes the changing light, fading flowers, and quiet melancholy of the season, while encouraging readers to embrace the natural rhythms of life. The piece closes with lines from Steingrímur Thorsteinsson’s poem Haustkvöld (“Autumn Evening”), illustrating Laxness’s early love for Icelandic poetry and nature.