Sigurður Pálsson (born

Skinnastaður Skinnastaður () is a farm and rectory in northeastern Iceland, north of Vatnajökull National Park and 25 km from Dettifoss. It is a part of the Norðurþing municipality. The church, Skinnastaðarkirkja, is known for its ornate wooden structure ...

, 30 July 1948 – 19 September 2017) was an Icelandic poet, author and translator. He worked primarily in cinema and television, theatre, and university teaching. He is particularly noted, among Icelandic writers, for his close links with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Biography

Sigurður grew up in the north-east of Iceland. He died of illness in 2017.

Education

Sigurður graduated from

Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík (MR; official name in English: Reykjavik College) is collegein Iceland. It is located in Reykjavík. The school traces its origin to 1056, when a school was established in Skálholt, and it remains one of the oldest ...

in 1967, having been taught French by, amongst others,

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (; born 15 April 1930) is an Icelandic politician who served as the fourth president of Iceland from 1980 to 1996, the first woman to hold the position and the first in the world to be democratically elected president of ...

; and then, at the age of 19, proceeded to France. He studied French from 1967-68 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, before taking a ''Diplôme universitaire d'études littéraires'' and the first part of an MA at University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle and studying cinema at the Conservatoire libre du cinéma français. In 1978-82, Sigurður returned to the Sorbonne to complete his MA and take a

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domes ...

. He also studied film directing at the Conservatoire Libre du Cinéma Français.

Artistic career

Sigurður was in France during the

May 1968 The following events occurred in May 1968: May 1, 1968 (Wednesday) *In Dallas, at its first meeting since its creation through a merger, the United Methodist Church removed its rule that Methodist ministers could not drink alcohol nor sm ...

revolts, which influenced his intellectual and literary evolution. During the 1970s, Sigurður Pálsson was part of a group of young Icelandic poets, the Listaskáldin vondu, who worked to renew Icelandic literary language by combining colloquial language with traditional influences; the group also included Steinunn Sigurðardóttir, Pétur Gunnarsson and

Þórarinn Eldjárn Þórarinn Eldjárn (born 22 August 1949) is an Icelandic writer, particularly well known in Iceland for his humorous poetry books for children. Life and work Þórarinn is the son of Kristján Eldjárn, the third president of Iceland (in off ...

. In 1975, he published the collection ''Ljóð vega salt'', which deployed autobiographical elements to probe contemporary life. From the 1980s onwards, he published collections of poems, a number of novels, ten or so plays, and twenty or so translations, mostly from French. He has also taught at the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

and the

Iceland Academy of the Arts Iceland University of the Arts ( ) is an Icelandic institution of higher art education, located in Reykjavík, which offers the only university-level degrees in the arts in Iceland.Lisa Z. ValdimarsdottirIceland Academy of the Arts, Department of ...

Awards and honours

Sigurður was made a knight of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

in 1990 and of the

Ordre du Mérite A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to f ...

in 2007. He was artist in residence in Reykjavík in 1987–90. In 2007 his memoirs, ''Minnisbók'', won the

Icelandic Literary Award The Icelandic Literary Prize ( Icelandic: ''Íslensku bókmenntaverðlaunin''), or Icelandic Literary Award, is an award which is given to three books each year by the Icelandic Publishers Association. The prize was founded on the association's cen ...

. He won the Jónas Hallgrímsson Award on

Icelandic Language Day Icelandic Language Day (, English: "day of the Icelandic tongue") is a festival celebrated on 16 November each year in Iceland to celebrate the Icelandic language. This date was chosen to coincide with the birthday of the Icelandic poet Jónas Hall ...

in 2016 and on New Year's Day 2017 he was made a knight of the Icelandic

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. Nowaday ...

for his services to Icelandic literature and culture.Jóhann Bjarni Kolbeinsson,
Sigurður Pálsson rithöfundur látinn
, ''RÚV'' (20 September 2017).

Oevre

Among Sigurður's main works are: * 1975: ''Ljóð vega salt'' * 1980: ''Ljóð vega menn'' (Reykjavik: Mál og menning) * 1982: ''Ljóð vega gerd'' (Reykjavik: Iðunn) * 1990: ''Ljóð námu völd'' (Reykjavik: Forlagið) * 1993: ''Ljóð línu'' (Reykjavik: Forlagið) * 1995: ''Ljóðlínuskip'' (Reykjavik: Forlagið) * 1996: ''Ljóð vega safn'' (Reykjavik: Mál og menning) * 1997: ''Ljóðlínuspil'' (Reykjavik: Forlagið) * 1998: ''Parísarhjól'' (Reykjavik: Forlagið) * 2002: ''Næturstaður'' (Reykjavik: JPV) * 2002: ''Tattu'' (''Tattoo''), a comedy. * 2007: ''Minnisbók'' (Reykjavik: JPV) * 2009: ''Ljóðorkuþörf'' (Reykjavik: JPV) Translations into English include: * 2014: ''Inside Voices Outside Light'', trans. by Martin S. Regal (Todmorden: Arc) His poetry was translated into Irish for the 2012 Irish Leaving Certificate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sigurdur Palsson Palsson, Sigurdur Palsson, Sigurdur Palsson, Sigurdur 20th-century Icelandic poets Sorbonne Nouvelle University Paris 3 alumni