David Arnason

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).[1][2] Arnason co-founded the Journal of Canadian Fiction[1] 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.[1] He has been a member of the advisory board of Anansi Press.[1] He began working for the CBC in the early 1970s; he has reviewed books and theatre, as well as created various radio adaptations.[1] He has written short stories, poetry, and novels, fiction and non-fiction.[1] He edited Dorothy Livesay's Right Hand, Left Hand.[1]

He has taught at the University of Manitoba since 1973[1] 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.[1] The University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections hold the David Arnason Fonds, which includes manuscripts and correspondence.[1][3]

• 1980: Marsh Burning
• 1981: The Icelanders
• 1982: Fifty Stories and a Piece of Advice
• 1984: The Circus Performers' Bar
• 1987: Skrag
• 1989: The Happiest Man in the World and Other Stories
• 1992: The Pagan Wall
• 1994: The Dragon and the Dry Goods Princess
• 1994: The New Icelanders: A North American Community
• 1995: If Pigs Could Fly
• 2001: King Jerry
• 2002: The Demon Lover
• 2005: The Imagined City: A Literary History of Winnipeg Edited by David Arnason & Mhari Mackintosh, ISBN 978-0-88801-298-2 – The Imagined City won both The Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award and The Mary Scorer Book Award for best book by a Manitoba publisher in 2005.
• 2010: Baldur's Song: A Saga

• Canadian literature
• Canadian poetry
• List of Canadian poets
• List of Canadian writers

• "“The fiction that makes us real”: Playful Accreditation in David Arnason's “The Sunfish”", JSSE, Héliane Ventura
• "Icelanders in North America:A Bibliography", Patrick J. Stevens, 17 June 1994