Upcoming INLUS Author’s Corner – Margaret Willson

By INLUS | January 28, 2023

Join us on Tuesday, January 31, 2023 as we help celebrate the release of Woman, Captain, Rebel. Margaret Willson will join us at 8:00 PM Eastern (GMT-5)/ 7:00 PM Central/ 6:00 PM Mountain/ 5:00 Pacific to talk about Thuridur and the Icelandic fishing environment during Thuridur’s life.

History would have us believe the sea has always been a male realm, the idea of female captains almost unthinkable. But there is one exception, so notable she defies any expectation.

This is her remarkable story.

Captain Thurídur, born in Iceland in 1777, lived a life that was both controversial and unconventional. Her first time fishing, on the open unprotected rowboats of her time, was at age 11. Soon after, she audaciously began wearing trousers. She later became an acclaimed fishing captain brilliant at weather-reading and seacraft and consistently brought in the largest catches. In the Arctic seas where drownings occurred with terrifying regularity, she never lost a single crewmember. Renowned for her acute powers of observation, she also solved a notorious crime. In this extremely unequal society, she used the courts to fight for justice for the abused, and in her sixties, embarked on perilous journeys over trackless mountains.

Weaving together fastidious research and captivating prose, Margaret Willson reveals Captain Thurídur’s fascinating story, her extraordinary courage, intelligence, and personal integrity.

Through adventure, oppression, joy, betrayal, and grief, Captain Thurídur speaks a universal voice. Here is a woman so ahead of her times she remains modern and inspirational today. Her story can now finally be told.

Anthropologist and writer, Margaret Willson has traveled extensively, in Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, Australia, Europe and Iceland. Her eclectic nonacademic jobs have included abalone diving and being a deckhand on fishing boats off the south coast of Tasmania. She received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the London School of Economics and is currently an Affiliate Associate Professor with the Departments of Anthropology and Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington, and a Senior Associate Scientist at the Stefansson Arctic Institute in Iceland. Her book Seawomen of Iceland: Survival on the Edge was published in 2016.

When: Tuesday, January 31st, 2023

Time: 2400 GMT, 8:00 PM Eastern, 7:00 PM Central, 6:00 PM Mountain, 5:00 PM Pacific

The webinar link may be found at Events Calendar – Icelandic National League (inlus.org).

Posted in Arts, Events