Jens Pauli Heinesen (2 November 1932 in Sandavágur −19 July 2011 in Tórshavn) was a Faroese writer. He was one of the most important novelists of the Faroe Islands. Four times he received the Faroese Literature Prize and one time the Faroese Cultural Prize. There were only a few Faroese novelists before him, there were several poets, but only a few novelists. The Faroese literature was quite new; the first novel in Faroese language was published in 1909. William Heinesen and Jørgen Frantz Jacobsen wrote in Danish, other Faroese writers, who wrote novels in Faroese were born thirty years before Jens Pauli Heinesen: Heðin Brú (1901–87) from Skálavík on Sandoy and Martin Joensen (1902–66) from Sandvík in Suðuroy. Jens Pauli Heinesen wrote in his own way, more like the spoken Faroese and not so much like the Faroese from the dictionary. As he said, he had to write in his own dialect, he couldn't write in the Sandoy dialect or in the Suðuroy dialect. He wrote about the Faroese society on its way from the old society to a modern society. He wrote critically about political issues. Sometimes he wrote partially autobiographical like in the seven-volume series of novels Á ferð inn í eina óendaliga søgu (On a journey into a never ending story) from 1980–92. Jens Pauli Heinesen was president of the Association of Writers of the Faroe Islands from 1968 to 1975 (Rithøvundafelag Føroya)