Adam Nicolson, (born 12 September 1957) is an English author who has written about history, landscape, great literature and the sea. He is also the 5th Baron Carnock, but does not use the title. He is noted for his books ''Sea Room'' (about the Shiant Isles, a group of uninhabited islands in the

Hebrides The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrid ...

); ''God's Secretaries: The Making of the

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

''; ''The Mighty Dead'' (US title:''Why Homer Matters'') exploring the epic Greek poems; ''The Seabird's Cry'' about the disaster afflicting the world's seabirds; ''The Making of Poetry'' on the Romantic Revolution in England in the 1790s; and ''Life Between the Tides'', a boundary-crossing account of the tides in human and animal life.

Biography

Adam Nicolson is the son of writer

Nigel Nicolson Nigel Nicolson (19 January 1917 – 23 September 2004) was an English writer, publisher and politician. Early life and education Nicolson was the second son of writers Sir Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West; he had an elder brother Ben, ...

and his wife Philippa Tennyson-d'Eyncourt. He is the grandson of the writers

Vita Sackville-West Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer. Sackville-West was a successful novelist, poet and journalist, as wel ...

and Sir

Harold Nicolson Sir Harold George Nicolson (21 November 1886 – 1 May 1968) was a British politician, diplomat, historian, biographer, diarist, novelist, lecturer, journalist, broadcaster, and gardener. His wife was the writer Vita Sackville-West. Early lif ...

, and great-grandson of Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt and

Arthur Nicolson, 1st Baron Carnock Arthur Nicolson, 1st Baron Carnock, (19 September 1849 – 5 November 1928), known as Sir Arthur Nicolson, 11th Baronet, from 1899 to 1916, was a British diplomat and politician during the last quarter of the 19th century to the middle of World ...

. He was educated at Eaton House, Summer Fields School,

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

where he was a King's Scholar, and

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

. He has worked as a journalist and columnist on the ''Sunday Times'', the ''Sunday Telegraph'', the ''Daily Telegraph'', ''National Geographic Magazine'' and ''Granta'', where he is a contributing editor. He is a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

, the Society of Antiquaries and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He has made several television series (with Keo Films) and radio series (with Tim Dee, the writer and radio producer) on a variety of subjects including the King James Bible, 17th-century literacy, Crete, Homer, the idea of Arcadia, the untold story of Britain's 20th-century whalers and the future of Atlantic seabirds. Between 2005 and 2009, in partnership with the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

, Nicolson led a project which transformed the surrounding the house and garden at

Sissinghurst Sissinghurst is a small village in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. Originally called ''Milkhouse Street'' (also referred to as ''Mylkehouse''), Sissinghurst changed its name in the 1850s, possibly to avoid association with the smu ...

into a productive mixed farm, growing meat, fruit, cereals and vegetables for the National Trust restaurant. And between 2012 and 2017, together with the

RSPB The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

, the EU and SNH, Nicolson and his son Tom were partners in a project to eradicate invasive predators from the Shiant Isles, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. In March 2018, the islands were declared rat-free. In December 2008 he succeeded his cousin David Nicolson, 4th Baron Carnock, as 5th Baron Carnock but he does not use the title.

Personal life

Nicolson met his first wife, the writer Olivia Fane, when he was a student at Cambridge University. They married in 1982, and had sons Thomas (born 1984); William (born 1986); and Ben (born 1988). They were divorced in 1992 and since then he has been married to the writer and gardener Sarah Raven, with whom he has two daughters: Rosie (born 1993); Molly (born 1996). The family live at Perch Hill Farm Perch Hill Farm
/ref> in Sussex.

Awards and recognition

* 1986

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awa ...

''Frontiers'' * 1987 PBFA Topography Prize (winner) ''Wetland'' (with Patrick Sutherland) * 1997

British Press Awards The Press Awards, formerly the British Press Awards, is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. History Established in 1962 by ''The People'' and '' World's Press News'', the first award ceremony for the then-named '' ...

Feature Writer of the Year (shortlist) * 1998 British Book Awards Illustrated Book of the Year (shortlist) ''Restoration'' * 2002 Duff Cooper Prize (shortlist) ''Sea Room'' * 2004

Heinemann Award (winner) ''Power and Glory'' * 2005 Fellow of the

* 2006

Royal United Services Institute The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi), registered as Royal United Service Institute for Defence and Security Studies and formerly the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, is a British defence and security think tank. ...

Duke of Westminster's Medal for Military Literature The Duke of Westminster's Medal for Military Literature was awarded by the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, (the RUSI), Whitehall, London. Awarded annually from 1997 to 2016, the Medal was given to honour a living au ...

(shortlist) ''Men of Honour'' * 2009

Ondaatje Prize The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize is an annual literary award given by the Royal Society of Literature. The £10,000 award is for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that evokes the "spirit of a place", and is written by someon ...

(winner) ''Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History'' * 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize (longlist) ''Sissinghurst: an Unfinished History'' * 2010 Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries * 2014 Samuel Johnson Prize (longlist) ''The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters'' * 2014 Scottish BAFTA (winner, Factual Series) ''Britain's Whale Hunters'' * 2015 London Hellenic Prize (shortlist) ''The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters'' * 2017 Richard Jefferies Society Award for Nature Writing (winner) ''The Seabird's Cry'' * 2018 Gomes Lecturer, Emmanuel College, Cambridge * 2018

Wainwright Prize The Wainwright Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of general outdoors, nature and UK-based travel writing. In 2020 it was split into the Wainwright Prize for UK nature writing and the Wainwright Prize for writing on globa ...

(winner) ''The Seabird's Cry'' * 2019

Costa Biography Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

(shortlist) ''The Making of Poetry'' * 2021 Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award (longlist) ''The Fearful Summer'' * 2022 Richard Jefferies Society Award for Nature Writing (shortlist) ''the sea is not made of water: Life between the Tides'' * 2022

(longlist) ''the sea is not made of water: Life between the Tides''

Books

* ''The National Trust Book of Long Walks'' (Weidenfeld 1981) * ''Long Walks in France'' (Weidenfeld 1983) * ''Frontiers'' (Weidenfeld 1985) * ''Wetland'' (Michael Joseph 1987) * ''Two Roads to Dodge City'' (Weidenfeld 1988) with Nigel Nicolson * ''Prospects of England'' (Weidenfeld 1990) * ''On Foot: Guided Walks in England, France, and the United States'' (Weidenfeld/Harmony 1990) * ''Restoration: Rebuilding of Windsor Castle'' (Michael Joseph 1997) * ''Regeneration: The Story of the Dome'' (HarperCollins 1999) * ''Perch Hill: A New Life'' (Constable 2000) * ''Mrs Kipling: The Hated Wife'' (Short Books 2001) * ''Sea Room'' (HarperCollins 2001/US edition Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2002) * ''Power and Glory: The Making of the King James Bible'' (US title: ''God's Secretaries'') (HarperCollins 2003) (2011 reissued in UK as ''When God Spoke English'') * ''Seamanship'' (HarperCollins 2004) * ''Men of Honour: Trafalgar and the Making of the English Hero'' (US title: ''Seize the Fire: Heroism, Duty, and the Battle of Trafalgar)'' (HarperCollins 2005) * ''Earls of Paradise'' (US title: ''Quarrel with the King'') (HarperCollins 2008) * ''Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History'' (HarperCollins 2008/US revised edition Viking 2010) * ''Arcadia: The Dream of Perfection in Renaissance England'' (a revised paperback edition of ''Earls of Paradise'') (HarperCollins 2009) * ''The Smell of Summer Grass'' (an updated edition of ''Perch Hill'') (HarperCollins 2011) * ''The Gentry: Stories of the English'' (HarperCollins 2011) * ''The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters'' (US title Henry Holt: ''Why Homer Matters'') (HarperCollins 2014) * ''The Seabird's Cry: The Life and Loves of Puffins, Gannets and Other Ocean Voyagers'' (HarperCollins 2017) (US Henry Holt: ''The Lives and Loves of the Planet's Great Ocean Voyagers'' (2018)) * ''The Making of Poetry: Coleridge, the Wordsworths and their Year of Marvels'' (HarperCollins 2019/US edition Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2020) * ''The sea is not made of water: Life between the Tides'' (HarperCollins 2021/US edition Farrar, Straus and Giroux ''Life between the Tides'' 2022)

Television

* ''Atlantic Britain'' Channel 4, 2004 * ''Sissinghurst'' BBC 4, 2009 * ''When God Spoke English: The Making of the King James Bible'' BBC 4, 2011 * ''The Century That Wrote Itself'' BBC 4, 2013 * ''Britain's Whale Hunters'' BBC 4, 2014 * ''The Last Seabird Summer?'' BBC 4, 2016

Radio

* ''Homer's Landscapes'' 3 x 45 mins, BBC Radio 3, 2008 * ''A Cretan Spring'' 5 x 15 mins, with Sarah Raven, BBC Radio 3, 2009 * ''Dark Arcadias'' 2 x 45 mins, BBC Radio 3, 2011

References

External links

Author page at Harper Collins
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicolson, Adam 1957 births Living people British people of Scottish descent British people of Irish descent British people of Spanish descent Carnock, Adam Nicolson, 5th Baron Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People educated at Eton College Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge People educated at Summer Fields School British columnists British television presenters British male writers Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Male non-fiction writers