Jens Pauli Heinesen

Jens Pauli Heinesen wrote with a colloquial rather than an academic tone, claiming that he had to write in his own dialect. His writings are characterized by thematizing the development of Faroese society to modernity, with a critical vision on his contemporary cultural climate. Additionally, he wrote partially autobiographical novels such as the seven-volume series Á ferð inn í eina óendaliga søgu (On a journey into a never ending story). He also composed the poem Eitt dýpi av dýrari tíð (An Abyss of Precious Time) which was accompanied with melodies by his daughter Ellin. The poem was released in 1988, which remains a popular song in the island.

Tórshavn: Føroya Lærarafelag in co-operation with Illustrationsforlaget, [1958]. – 24 s. (Glæstribøkurnar ; 4)

In August of 1956, he married Maud Brimheim from Klaksvík. They had a daughter, Elin Brimheim Heinesen, in 1958, and later adopted a second daughter, Marianna, from Korea. The family moved back to the Faroe Islands in 1957. Maud Heinesen (born Brimheim) later became a writer of children's books.

Jens Pauli Heinesen's parents were Petur Heinesen á Lofti, a farmer from Sandavágur, and Anna Maria Malena Heinesen (born Johannesen) from the small island Hestur. He grew up in the village of Sandavágur. At 14 years old he moved to Tórshavn, where he worked briefly at an office and published his first book, Degningsælið, before finishing high school in 1954. After graduating, he moved to Denmark, where he studied at Emdrupborg Statsseminarium and became a school teacher in 1956.

Jens Pauli Heinesen (2 November 1932 in Sandavágur −19 July 2011 in Tórshavn) was a Faroese writer. He received the Faroese Literature Prize four times and the Faroese Cultural Prize once. From 1968 to 1975, Heinesen was president of the Association of Writers of the Faroe Islands (Rithøvundafelag Føroya). He wrote novels, short stories, poems, plays, a children's book, and translated books from foreign languages into Faroese.