Jón Kjartansson was born at the farm Pálmholt in Arnarneshreppur [is] by the Eyjafjörður on 25 May 1930.
[2] Jón published his first poetry collection, Ókomnir dagar, in 1958.
[2] He was considered one of Iceland's young modernist poets alongside Þorsteinn frá Hamri and Dagur Sigurðarson.
He was active as a translator and as a journalist, writing for various Icelandic newspapers and magazines.
[1][2] Socially engaged on behalf of low-income earners, he served as chairman of the Leigjendasamtakanna (lit.