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Norman Nicholson
Norman Cornthwaite Nicholson OBE (8 January 1914 – 30 May 1987) was an English writer. Although he is now known chiefly for his poetry, Nicholson also wrote in many other forms: novels, plays, essays, topography and criticism.
Nicholson was born on 8 January 1914 at 14 St George's Terrace in the industrial town of Millom, to Joseph and Edith Maud Mary Nicholson (nee Cornthwaite). His father was a gentleman's outfitter who worked out of his own home.
Nicholson was educated at Holborn Hill School and Millom Secondary School, but his education was interrupted at the age of 16 after he contracted tuberculosis. He then spent two years at a sanatorium in Linford, Hampshire. Although he had been regarded as one of the most brilliant school students in Cumberland his poor health prevented him from attending university and instead he devoted his life to writing.
Nicholson was influenced by the social and religious community around the local Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Millom. He was confirmed in 1940 into the Church of England.
In 1956 he married Yvonne Edith Gardner (d. 31 August 1982), a teacher who had consulted him about a school production of his play The Old Man of the Mountains. They travelled extensively in England, Scotland and Norway. They had no children.
Norman Nicholson died on 30 May 1987 in Whitehaven and was buried in St George's Churchyard, Millom.
Nicholson's writing career stretched from the 1930s until his death in 1987. He was published by T. S. Eliot at Faber and Faber and by Robert Hale. His poetry collections include Rock Face (1948), The Pot Geranium (1954), A Local Habitation (1972), and Sea to the West (1981). He was elected to the Royal Society of Literature in 1945. He received altogether five honorary higher degrees from British universities; one of Britain's top poetry awards, the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1977; and the OBE in 1981. He reviewed frequently for the TLS, the Church Times, The Listener and many other magazines and gave numerous talks on the BBC. He also travelled widely around the UK to give poetry readings.
Some of the poems in Five Rivers foreshadow verse plays of his – The Old Man of the Mountains (1946), A Match for the Devil (1955) and Birth by Drowning (1960) – placing the Bible in a distinctly Cumbrian setting. A fourth, Prophesy to the Wind (1947) is about survival after nuclear disaster.
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Norman Nicholson
Norman Cornthwaite Nicholson OBE (8 January 1914 – 30 May 1987) was an English writer. Although he is now known chiefly for his poetry, Nicholson also wrote in many other forms: novels, plays, essays, topography and criticism.
Nicholson was born on 8 January 1914 at 14 St George's Terrace in the industrial town of Millom, to Joseph and Edith Maud Mary Nicholson (nee Cornthwaite). His father was a gentleman's outfitter who worked out of his own home.
Nicholson was educated at Holborn Hill School and Millom Secondary School, but his education was interrupted at the age of 16 after he contracted tuberculosis. He then spent two years at a sanatorium in Linford, Hampshire. Although he had been regarded as one of the most brilliant school students in Cumberland his poor health prevented him from attending university and instead he devoted his life to writing.
Nicholson was influenced by the social and religious community around the local Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Millom. He was confirmed in 1940 into the Church of England.
In 1956 he married Yvonne Edith Gardner (d. 31 August 1982), a teacher who had consulted him about a school production of his play The Old Man of the Mountains. They travelled extensively in England, Scotland and Norway. They had no children.
Norman Nicholson died on 30 May 1987 in Whitehaven and was buried in St George's Churchyard, Millom.
Nicholson's writing career stretched from the 1930s until his death in 1987. He was published by T. S. Eliot at Faber and Faber and by Robert Hale. His poetry collections include Rock Face (1948), The Pot Geranium (1954), A Local Habitation (1972), and Sea to the West (1981). He was elected to the Royal Society of Literature in 1945. He received altogether five honorary higher degrees from British universities; one of Britain's top poetry awards, the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1977; and the OBE in 1981. He reviewed frequently for the TLS, the Church Times, The Listener and many other magazines and gave numerous talks on the BBC. He also travelled widely around the UK to give poetry readings.
Some of the poems in Five Rivers foreshadow verse plays of his – The Old Man of the Mountains (1946), A Match for the Devil (1955) and Birth by Drowning (1960) – placing the Bible in a distinctly Cumbrian setting. A fourth, Prophesy to the Wind (1947) is about survival after nuclear disaster.
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