Sigurður A. Magnússon' (March 31, 1928 – April 2, 2017) was an Icelandic writer, translator, editor, critic, and journalist. He wrote poems, plays, travel books, memoirs, and short stories. In 1953, his first book was published, the travel book Grískir reisudagar, followed by his 1961 novel Næturgestir. Sigurður is best known for his poetic autobiography in several volumes, but the first volume is the book Under a star which was published in 1979. That book received the in 1980.
Sigurður graduated from Reykjavík High School in 1948 and studied theology, and Greek, and religious history, and literature at the university. University of Iceland, University of Copenhagen and the university of Athens. He graduated with a BA in comparative literature from The New School for Social Research in New York City in 1955. He worked for a long time in journalism in Iceland and at the United Nations. Among other things, he was a journalist at the Morgunblaðin from 1956 to 1967, the editor of the Lesbókar Morgunblaðinn from 1962 to 1967 and Samvinnunn 1967–1974. Among other things, Sigurður was the chairman of the, the Nordic Writers' Council and Amnesty International's Iceland Division. He was on the jury for the Nordic Council Literature Prize for nine years. Sigurður wrote a lot about social issues and culture.[1] [2]