Johan Nordahl Brun Grieg (1 November 1902 – 2 December 1943) was a Norwegian poet, novelist, dramatist, journalist and political activist.

Receiving the 1924 Norway Scholarship, Grieg spent a year at Wadham College at Oxford, England, studying history and literature.

Grieg debuted in 1922 with his first book of poetry Omkring Kap det gode Haab, based on his seagoing experiences – as was Skibet gaar videre (1924).

Grieg spent 1927 as a newspaper correspondent in China, where he witnessed firsthand the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communists.

[5][6] The 1929 poetry collection Norge i våre hjerter expressed deep love for his country and his people in their poverty and misery and attracted critical acclaim.

The Spanish Civil War was the subject of Spansk sommer (1937) and partly also of Ung må verden ennu være, whose plot shifts between Spain and the Soviet Union.

[5] On returning to Norway, he became an ardent supporter of Joseph Stalin's policies, and became the chairman of the Friends of the Soviet Union (1935–1940).

His novel Ung må verden ennu være (English: The World Must Still Be Young) was also a defence of Stalin and the Moscow Trials.

[8][9] The outbreak of World War II, and especially the German invasion and occupation of Norway, led Grieg to oppose Stalin's policies.

[3][10] Once in Britain, Grieg served the Norwegian government in exile, and participated in making patriotic radio programs.

In the summer of 1942 Grieg spent several weeks on the Norwegian island of Jan Mayen in the North Atlantic during which time he wrote the poem Øya i Ishavet.

Grieg joined the crew of a Lancaster Mk.III (serial number LM316, squadron code "AR-H2") captained by Flying Officer A. R. Mitchell, RAAF.

[15] In response to the new information, the leader of the Norwegian Socialist Left Party, Audun Lysbakken, declared that Grieg should be exhumed and reburied in Bergen, Norway.