Elías Mar

Ásta K. Benediktsdóttir (University of Iceland)

Ed. by Ármann Jakobsson, University of Iceland
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.3.4: Icelandic Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London)

Dates

Born 1924
Died 2007

Places

Born in Iceland
Active in Iceland

Cultural Identities

LGBTQ

Activities

Primary

Writer / Author

Resources

Mar's Works

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Elías Mar (1924–2007) was one of the first urban Icelandic prose writers, as his fiction is primarily set in Reykjavík around the mid-twentieth century. He is also one of the few Icelandic twentieth-century writers whose oeuvre manifests a persistent interest in queer desire and homoeroticism.

Elías was born in Reykjavík to a single working-class mother, who died of tuberculosis when he was only one year old. From then on, he was raised by his grandmother. As a young man, Elías studied to become a teacher for two years, but could not afford to complete his education. He primarily earned his living from writing, translating, and proofreading, and, from 1953, he worked as a proof-reader for the socialist newspaper, Þjóðviljinn.

Elías was born in Reykjavík to a single working-class…

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1367 words

Citation: Benediktsdóttir, Ásta K.. "Elías Mar". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 October 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14823, accessed 21 November 2024.]