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.
Jens Pauli Heinesen wrote with a colloquial rather than an academic tone, claiming that he had to write in his own dialect.
[4] His writings are characterized by thematizing the development of Faroese society to modernity, with a critical vision of 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).
[5] He also composed the poem Eitt dýpi av dýrari tíð (An Abyss of Precious Time) which was accompanied with melodies by his daughter Ellin.