OWLY is a book enjoyed by young and old, good readers and struggling readers. His unique work opens the story to a wide range of reading and age levels.

Runton uses his artistic prowess to create expressive characters and iconography to illustrate a most charming yarn. That is to say, OWLY is a wordless (or near wordless) graphic novel. RuntonвЂ™s work is most unusual in its definition of вЂњtextвЂќ. OwlyвЂ™s day consists of tending his garden, loving his friends, and taking care of the woodland creatures in need.ДЇor the reader who is looking for a tenderhearted, character driven, sweet story about animals that donвЂ™t eat one another, it gets no better. It just breaks his heart, and he does his best to change their perspectives and make new friends. The forest creatures have a hard time believing in OwlyвЂ™s sweeter side, choosing to be wary of him. TungliГ° saves its authors from this delusion.OWLY is an extraordinary little nature lover: kind, gentle, generous, soft, and compassionate вЂ“ not what one would expect from an owl. Writing a book is, for some writers, a deluded attempt at immortality. They both love and hate that books вЂњstrive for permanenceвЂќ, and how we attempt to вЂњreconcile ourselves with impermanence by making permanent thingsвЂќ. The core question still remains: why? вЂњThereвЂ™s a contradiction at the centre of things,вЂќ they tell me, вЂњand so it is with TungliГ°вЂќ. We just try to do what feels right, funny or beautiful, or preferably all three.вЂќ вЂњThis might look like a contradiction,вЂќ they continue. вЂњEveryone is welcomed,вЂќ they stress вЂ“ but they do acknowledge that making their books scarce is fundamental to what they do. вЂњThe printed book is a democratic object,вЂќ they argue, but one being вЂњpushed to the marginsвЂќ as some publishers are trying to save the book вЂњby turning it into a luxury itemвЂќ a desirable object prized for its commercial value rather than its contents.Д«ut arenвЂ™t TungliГ°вЂ™s small print runs and book burnings undemocratic, because they limit who can access their books? вЂњDemocratic,вЂќ they tell me, вЂњdoesnвЂ™t mean limitless abundance or unlimited supply вЂ“ but it should mean fair process.вЂќ Their books are cheap, cannot be pre-ordered and no one can jump the queue at their events вЂ“ fair, in other words. They want to keep these challenging books available, whether it be Icelandic poet Г“skar ГЃrni Г“skarssonвЂ™s Cuban Diary from 1983 or Г“lafssonвЂ™s own Letters from Bhutan. Unsurprisingly, they describe their publishing list as вЂњunconventionalвЂќ вЂ“ books that are hard to classify. Instead, the procedure has to do with the politics of the book itself. They claim the burnings вЂњhave nothing to do with history, censorship or politicsвЂќ. They assure me that they burn books вЂњwith a lot of care and respect, using only first-grade French cognac to help to fuel the flamesвЂќ. At their sole incineration outside Iceland вЂ“ in Basel, Switzerland вЂ“ they had a difficult time persuading the locals that this was вЂњa poetic act, not a political oneвЂќ. One topic they do take (somewhat) seriously is the artistic nature of their book burnings. Is this all a satire, then, of publishing and capitalism in general? Not really Г“lafsson and HjartarsonвЂ™s вЂњaim is not to make any point вЂ¦ We tend not to take the rules of the game too seriously so in that way, it might seem satirical.вЂќ Asking about their anti-profit business model, I am corrected: вЂњTungliГ° is not a business, so there is no business model.вЂќ use only first-grade French cognac to help to fuel the flames.

Jokes and not taking publishing too seriously seem integral to TungliГ°. Hjartarson and Г“lafsson asked to be quoted as a вЂњdual entityвЂќ, joking that they must toe a вЂњparty lineвЂќ. Ragnar Helgi Г“lafsson (left) and Dagur Hjartarson.

Owly prints