Articles​

At the beginning of February, the TV series Húsó was made available again on RÚV, the national broadcaster, with an updated credit list. For the first time, more than two years after the show’s premiere — when I was not credited at all — I am now credited as “created by”, “story by”, “written by” and “executive producer”. Following this, Nordisk Film & TV Fund updated its pages and added my name and pseudonym as a nominated writer for the Nordisk Series Script Awards, which

The origins of improvisation on stage are often traced back to Commedia dell’arte , which became popular in Italy from the 16th century onward. The roots of the art form most widely known today as “improv” or “impro” can be traced to two main traditions: one associated with Viola Spolin in the United States, and the other with Keith Johnstone in Britain. In the 1930s, Viola Spolin worked in WPA (Works Progress Administration) programs that aimed to help immigrants adapt to Am

In the summer of 2013, I taught my first improv workshop at the LungA Art Festival in Seyðisfjörður. Only a few months earlier, I had taken my very first improv class at UCB in New York. Over the next three years, I attended numerous improv classes while living in New York and regularly flew home to Iceland to teach what I was learning. In 2017, I traveled to Chicago to study improv and sketch writing at The Second City. My goal was clear: to build a professional and sustai

It has now been ten years since Improv Iceland began hosting weekly shows, that are still running at the National Theatre Cellar in Reykjavík. To mark the occasion, I wrote a series of articles about improv and how the improv scene in Iceland came to life. The first post tells the story of how I discovered improv in New York and was almost too proud to sign up for a class. My very first experience with improvisation took place just before the turn of the millennium, at a thea

Update (February 7, 2026): Húsó has now been reinstated on RÚV’s platforms (available in Iceland), where I am credited as created by, story by, and executive producer on all episodes, and written by on episode on e. No court ruling has been issued, and no settlement agreement has been concluded After almost three years of asserting my statutory authors’ rights, this represents an important factual change. The current credits still do not fully or accurately reflect my authors

The Icelandic Writers’ Union (RSÍ) sent a letter on 17 November of 2025 to the Director General of RÚV and to the production company Glassriver, stating that the lack of name attribution violates copyright and moral rights. RSÍ formally requests that my name and my pseudonym be included in all contexts where Húsó is shown, nominated, or discussed. No response has been received. The production company Glassriver has acknowledged in written correspondence that correct author c

What does it look like to be erased from your own story? Excerpt from my book Outcast from the School of Housewives – Behind the Scenes of the Icelandic Film Industry ( working title – soon to be published in English ) . In January 2025, the director of Húsó and our co-writer were nominated for the Nordic Series Script Awards. My lawyer asked the production company Glassriver to add my name to the nomination and to invite me to the Gothenburg Film Festival, where the awards

In Icelandic copyright cases, winning still means losing – financially. Can it be called justice if it costs more to claim your rights than you can ever recover for winning them? Legal aid  (Icelandic: gjafsókn ) is financial assistance provided by the state to individuals who lack the means to pursue a court case. To qualit y, a case must have general or precedential significance, or the applicant’s financial situation must make it impossible for them to claim their legal

Today, November 8th, is the International Day Against Bullying. Bullying is not always visible or organized. It exists among adults just as much as among teenagers or children. Covert bullying, also called indirect or psychological bullying, can be so hidden that victims struggle to recognize or describe their experiences. People who speak up about violence, injustice, or corruption often face social exclusion, silencing, and reduced career opportunities after sharing their e

The TV series Húsó  won for Best Screenplay and Best Scripted TV Series of 2024. “…but maybe the strangest thing about these television awards is that, what… they’re not shown on television?” – Símon Birgisson ( Menningarvaktin (The chandelier in the photo looks like a Disney princess crown!) I am deeply grateful for the recognition. I have never felt such a deep and personal connection to any project I´v

It’s a day of mixed emotions. My graduation from the Master’s program in Creative Writing at the University of Iceland happens to fall on Iceland’s Women’s Strike. The first Women’s Strike was held in 1975, when 90% of Icelandic women stopped working, both paid and unpaid jobs, to demonstrate the importance of women’s labor. The event had a profound impact on Icelandic society and helped pave the way for the world’s first democratically elected female president, Vigdís Finnbo

In 1986, I was six years old when I saw the film Stella í orlofi  (titled in english: Stella on Holiday) in the cinema. A critic for the newspaper Vísir gave the film two and a half stars and described the movie as characterized by “female chauvinism.” He praised the male lead actor but found other aspects of the film “less successful and flat” (FRI). The Icelandic public, however, was much more positive and the film became one of the most beloved Icelandic movies of all tim

In light of the Icelandic Television Awards, I want to share an excerpt from my autoethnographic essays in creative writing, where I reflected, among other things, on Húsó (The School of Housewives) , a project based on my own experience as a student at the school after completing rehab. Screenshot from an Instagram story I posted while a student at the school (@dorajohanns – highlights: Húsó)

Although I am deeply grateful for the recognition that came with Húsó receiving awards for Best Script and Best Scripted Show at the Icelandic Television Awards last week, and proud of my work, what matters most to me is shedding light on the systemic issues underlying Húsó, both before and after production. In an era of artificial intelligence and growing information chaos, when freedom of expression can no longer be taken for granted, the protection of authors’ rights is