Julie Summers

Born and raised in Washington State, Julie earned a BA in English and worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer and an administrative assistant in disability support at a large community college before exploring her Icelandic roots as a Snorri Program participant in 2012. She spent her homestay in the remote Westfjords, living with relatives who barely spoke English and spending her days working at a family-owned corner store and a fish processing plant. After returning home, Julie continued to study Icelandic on her own before earning a grant jointly funded by the Fulbright Program and the Icelandic Ministry of Culture and Education in 2014. She graduated from the University of Iceland with a BA in Icelandic as a Second Language in May 2017. Her final project involved translating several letters by Jóhannes Halldórsson, who emigrated to North America in 1873. In June 2021, Julie earned an MA in Translation Studies, also from the University of Iceland.

Julie previously served as a writer and associate editor for the Lögberg-Heimskringla and has been part of the Icelandic Roots team for several years. She has also served as alumni representative on the board of the Snorri Foundation since 2016.

When she’s not translating or editing, you might find Julie working on projects for the Snorri Foundation and the Snorri Alumni Association, reading, or playing the piano. In 2020, after six years living in Iceland, she relocated to Germany, where she lives with her husband, Jan, and their two cats - who have Icelandic names, of course!