The Icelandic author Jón Kalman Stefánsson grew up in Reykjavik, but he also spent a great deal of time in the countryside. After leaving school he did various odd jobs, cleaning fish, for example. He was interested in physics and astronomy for a while, but he soon realised that he was more interested in the poetic side of physics. "Scientists and artists have something in common, and that is doubt. Their main task is to stretch the boundaries." Between 1986 and 1991, Stefánsson read literature at the University of Reykjavik without graduating. He then lived in Copenhagen for a few years until he returned to Iceland as a teacher and journalist.