David Arnason (born 23 May 1940) is a Canadian author and poet of Icelandic heritage from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Born in Gimli, Manitoba, Arnason is of Icelandic descent and often writes about the Icelandic community in Canada. He is the son of Baldwin and Gudrun Arnason[1] and the eldest of seven children. He attended the University of Manitoba where he received a B.A. (1961), a Certificate in Education (1963) and M.A. (1969), and has a PhD from the University of New Brunswick (1983-1984).[2] Arnason co-founded the Journal of Canadian Fiction with John Moss at the University of New Brunswick in 1972.
He was one of the co-founders of Queenston House Press in Winnipeg and has been an editor of Turnstone Press in Winnipeg since 1975. He was chairman of the Literary Press Group and a member of the executive of the Association of Canadian Publishers. He served on the Manitoba Arts Council 1985–1987. He was a general editor of the Macmillan Themes in Canadian Literature series. He has been a member of the advisory board of Anansi Press. He began working for the CBC in the early 1970s; he has reviewed books and theatre, as well as created various radio adaptations. He has written short stories, poetry, and novels, fiction and non-fiction. He edited Dorothy Livesay's Right Hand, Left Hand.
He has taught at the University of Manitoba since 1973 and was the head of the English Department from 1997 to 2006.[2] He was Acting Head of the Department of Icelandic, at the University of Manitoba from 1998 to 2006. As of 2018 he is a full professor at the University of Manitoba and chair of both the Icelandic and the English departments. The University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections hold the David Arnason Fonds, which includes manuscripts and correspondence.[3]