In Nína Björk Árnadóttir's works--which include poetry, novels, a biography, and plays--certain themes are recurrent, although her works are neither monotonous nor repetitive. On the one hand, they include anxiety or fear, mental pain, desperation, and death; on the other, love, passion, and faith; and frequently, a mixture of these contrasting emotions. Despite this focus on emotions and feelings, her artistic rendering of the various topics is never commonplace or pretentious; her command over the art of poetry is substantial and honest; and her choice of literary forms and topics is both diverse and clever. Other topics appearing in most of her collections of poems are reminiscences from her childhood, especially ones featuring the countryside and the farm where she spent her summer vacations, and poems addressed to friends and family members, both living and deceased. A style that appeals to...