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íslenska

Stefán Hörður Grímsson

Bio

Stefán Hörður Grímsson was born in Hafnarfjörður, March 31, 1919. He studied at Laugarvatnsskóli and the Reykjavík Municipal Centre for Adult Education. He worked in the field of agriculture and as a sailor, tought swimming and worked as a night watchman.

Stefán Hörður’s first book of poetry, Glugginn snýr í norður (The Window Faces North), appeared in 1946, and is viewed as a typical beginners work. The author follows well trodden paths in form and expression, and is under clear influence from older poets. Already in his second book of poetry, Svartálfadans (Goblindance), published in 1951, another tone is apparent. The collection gained immediate attention and was much admired, and critics claimed that with these new poems Stefán Hörður emerged as a mature modernist poet. Not a prolific poet, Stefán Hörður waited nineteen years, untill 1970, to publish his third book of poetry, Hliðin á sléttunni (Gates to the Prairy). Again, he made his readers wait and Farvegir (Courses) appeared eleven years later, in 1981. In 1987 he published Tengsl (Connections), which was nominated for the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize in 1989. That same year, Stefáns sixth book of poetry, Yfir heiðan morgun (Over the Clear Morning), came out and was awarded the Icelandic Literature Prize. Yfir heiðann morgun was the first book to receive this award. Stefán Hörður’s poetry has been translated to numerous languages and published in collections in Iceland and abroad.

Stefán Hörður Grímsson passed away on September 18, 2002. He was 83 years old.

Publisher: Mál og menning.