Saga Land

Richard Fidler is the author of the best-selling books Ghost Empire and Saga Land, co-written with Kári Gíslason. Saga Land is the story of Richard and Kári’s journey through Iceland in search of the medieval Icelandic sagas, and to confirm a personal connection to the greatest of the saga authors. Saga Land was awarded the 2018 Indie Book Award for non-fiction.

Richard is best known as the presenter of Conversations on ABC Radio, which has become the most downloaded podcast in Australia. In another life Richard was a member of Australian comedy trio The Doug Anthony Allstars (DAAS), which played to audiences all over the world.  

Dr Kári Gíslason is Associate Professor of Creative Writing and Literary Studies in the Creative Industries Faculty at QUT. He has previously taught in Writing and Literary Studies at the University of Tuebingen, the University of Queensland, the University of Iceland, and Bond University, as well as at senior secondary colleges. His PhD, a study of authorship in medieval Iceland, was completed at the University of Queensland in 2003, and was included on the UQ Dean’s Commendation List for Outstanding Research Higher Degree Theses. He has worked in a research capacity on projects that investigated the teaching of Shakespeare in Australian universities, environmental law, and practices of translation and language training.

Dr Gíslason has published internationally on a range of topics in literature and cultural studies, as well as creative writing pieces in the local and national press, and in Australian literary journals. He currently serves on the editorial advisory board of Australian Book Review. In 2011, he published a family memoir The Promise of Iceland, and in 2015 the novel The Ash Burner. Both works were shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards.