Norman Nicholson

Neil Curry (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of York), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

Born 8 Jan 1914
Died 30 May 1987
Activity 1944-1987

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Poet
Travel writer

Resources

Nicholson's Works

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The poet, Norman Nicholson, lived his whole life in the Cumbrian coastal town of Millom. When he was born there in 1914 it was dominated by an iron ore mine and one of the biggest ironworks in Europe, but when he died in 1987 there was hardly any trace of it to be seen. These changes - to the place and to the people - he recorded in carefully crafted verse. What was once regarded as a narrow ‘parochialism' gave him a depth of understanding which is now recognised as one of his major strengths.

Writers on Norman Nicholson have tended to undervalue his prose. In his Twayne Series (1973) study, Philip Gardner, an informed and sensitive critic of the poetry, called the prose works ‘peripheral', and referred to them as being ‘discursive and descriptive rather than creative'. But if that

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4773 words

Citation: Curry, Neil. "Norman Nicholson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 January 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11963, accessed 23 November 2024.]