Guðmundur Steinsson

Oddur Pálsson (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), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London)

Dates

Born 19 Apr 1925
Died 15 Jul 1996

Places

Active in Iceland

Activities

Primary

Playwright / Dramatist

Resources

Steinsson's Works

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Guðmundur Steinsson was born in 1925 in Eyrarbakki in southern Iceland. He graduated from Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík in 1946 and went to the United States to study biology at the University of Boston. After a winter in Boston, he changed his plans and moved to France, where he studied literature at the Sorbonne University for four years.

When Guðmundur returned to Iceland after his university years, he began writing novels while working at Iðnskólinn í Reykjavík, where he taught languages for six years. Guðmundur wanted to be a novelist and his first novel, Síld [Herring], was published in 1954. The story is set in the period of highly lucrative herring fishing in the towns of northern Iceland, but was not particularly well received. His second novel, Maríumyndin [The Image of

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945 words

Citation: Pálsson, Oddur. "Guðmundur Steinsson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 January 2025 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=15209, accessed 22 February 2025.]