Nick Awde Hill (born 29 December 1961 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England) is a British writer, artist, singer-songwriter and critic. He is based in London and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Personal life

The son of an international lawyer (who formulated laws that enable containers to go round the world), he was raised in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, the

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

before being sent to the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

Catholic boarding school

Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College is a co-educational Catholic Church, Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition, on the Stonyhurst, Stonyhurst Estate, Lancashire, England. It occupies a Grade I listed building. Th ...

in the UK. Although his father moved to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and his mother to Germany after divorcing, most of Awde's teenage home life was spent in

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

and the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

. He studied

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and Hausa at London's

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

, later becoming a journalist after working for several years on building sites and teaching English in Spain.

Plays and fiction

With Chris Bartlett he co-wrote the comedy drama '' Pete and Dud: Come Again'', a hit at the Assembly Rooms at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

in August 2005 before transferring to London's West End at The Venue, in March 2006, then doing a 90-date tour of the UK the following year. The play examines the comic relationship that existed between comedians Peter Cook and Dudley Moore of Beyond the Fringe; set in a chat show during the early eighties, the play tells their tale from the perspective of Dudley Moore, by then an international film star. In 2007 two other plays followed, premiering at the Edinburgh Festival. Written with Chris Bartlett, directed by David Giles and starring Jessica Martin and Jason Wood, ''Unnatural Acts'' is a comedy about two flatmates, a gay man and a straight woman, who try to have a baby together. Written by Awde and directed by Jon Bonfiglio, ''Blood Confession'' is a violent drama about an interrogation, about a child murder from 25 years ago, that goes horribly wrong. In 1993, Awde wrote, composed and produced ''

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

The Musical'', described as "a bizarre mix of spoof and satire" by ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Stage & Film Musicals''. A pastiche of the life of top musical composer Lloyd Webber, in loving homage to

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began h ...

' The Producers, it ran in a variety of fringe venues across London with several casts. Awde's 1994 follow-up ''Margaret Thatcher: The Musical'' failed to find backing. Awde's other stage works are ''Eros and the Skull'' (Bloomsbury Theatre, London, 1988) – a multi-created one-man show about the French poet

Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited fro ...

– and ''Semtex & Lipstick'' (King's Head Theatre, London, 1992) – a drama for actor and actress about love and political torture. He also co-designed costumes for historical drama ''Tewodros'' (Arts Theatre, 1987). In 2003 he published his first novel, ''The Virgin Killers'', as part of The Public School Chronicles series. It is a thriller about murders of priests at a Catholic

prep school Preparatory school or prep school may refer to: Schools *Preparatory school (United Kingdom), an independent school preparing children aged 8–13 for entry into fee-charging independent schools, usually public schools *College-preparatory school, ...

in the wilds of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

that lead to a trail of

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

and

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

conspiracies deep within the

British Establishment ''The Establishment'' is a term used to describe a dominant social group , group or elite that controls a polity or an organization. It may comprise a closed social group that selects its own members, or entrenched elite structures in specific ...

. He has been a theatre critic since the early 1990s, and has been writing for ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

'' newspaper for most of that time. Together with Gerald Berkowitz, in 1999 he set up theatreguidelondon.co.uk. He worked on '' The Voice'' during a key period of the fight for black empowerment in the UK, frequently with immediate impact, as when he wrote a front-page headline that contributed to a riot in Brixton the following day and attempted siege of the local police station. As an illustrator and cartoonist, over the years he has worked for newspapers such as '' The Voice'' and ''

The Weekly Journal John Peter Zenger (October 26, 1697 – July 28, 1746) was a German printer and journalist in New York City. Zenger printed '' The New York Weekly Journal''. He was accused of libel in 1734 by William Cosby, the royal governor of New York, ...

'' – where he was the regular profile illustrator for several years – ''

City Limits City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. Similarly, corporate limi ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' newspaper. His cartoons also illustrate comedian Llewella Gideon's ''The Little Big Woman Book''. He has done illustration work for Spanish educational publishers and has run a wide range of cartoon strips in specialist publications such as ''Boogie'' (music press, Spain), ''London Student'', ''Untitled'', ''The Wharf'' and ''The Stage''.

Music

Desert Hearts

Hill's rock group

Desert Hearts ''Desert Hearts'' is a 1985 American romantic drama film directed by Donna Deitch. The screenplay, written by Natalie Cooper, is an adaptation of the 1964 lesbian novel '' Desert of the Heart'' by Jane Rule. Set in Reno, Nevada in 1959, it te ...

initially operated as a rock three-piece that also played under the name of Dr Wu in 1990 before becoming a more complex four-piece in 1991 with Awde on vocals, guitar and violin, Andy Matthews on bass and vocals, Leo Katana on guitars, plus a string of drummers. Dropping the Dr Wu tag, Awde went into the studio in 1993 to produce sessions with Andy Ward – Awde provided vocals and played all other instruments – guitars, bass, keyboards and violin. Sub-titled 'Love Songs from the Underground', 1996's ''I Saw Satan on the Northern Line'' was released as a 'CD without music'. Designed in the format of a CD lyrics booklet, it contains often comic observations on modern life. The band came out of hibernation in 2010 with the release of ''Close to the Edge B/W Rocket Man/ Meryl Streep'', a mini album laced with

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

keyboard arrangements.

MelloFest

November 2008 saw the first MelloFest take place at the Fiddler's Elbow in Kentish Town, London. Organised by Awde, MelloFest One featured two Mellotrons onstage along with discussions and live Mellotron-inspired music from guests, plus the official launch of Awde's book ''

''. Talking about their music and in some cases also playing it were:

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix sitcom ...

( King Crimson),

Nick Magnus Nick Magnus (born 1 February 1955 in Emsworth, Hampshire, England) is a British keyboard player, songwriter, composer, arranger, engineer and producer. He is from the progressive school of keyboard players, mostly associated with instrumental a ...

( Steve Hackett Band),

Martin Orford Martin Orford (born 10 June 1959, Bitterne, Southampton) is an English keyboard player best known as the founder of progressive rock bands IQ and Jadis. He also worked with former King Crimson, U.K. and Asia bassist John Wetton, and has released t ...

( IQ), Jakko Jakszyk (

21st Century Schizoid Band 21st Century Schizoid Band were a King Crimson alumnus group formed in 2002. The name derives from the famous song "21st Century Schizoid Man" from the first King Crimson album, ''In the Court of the Crimson King''. The initial band featured Mel ...

Tangent In geometry, the tangent line (or simply tangent) to a plane curve at a given point is the straight line that "just touches" the curve at that point. Leibniz defined it as the line through a pair of infinitely close points on the curve. More ...

/ Level 42), Dave Cousins (

Strawbs Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock. They are best known fo ...

) & Robert Kirby (

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...

/ Paul Weller), Robert Webb (England) and

Tony Clarke Anthony or Tony Clarke may refer to: * Tony Clarke (British politician) (born 1963), English Labour Party politician, MP for Northampton South from 1997 to 2005 *Anthony Clarke (judoka) (born 1961), Australian athlete *Tony Clarke (activist) (born ...

, producer of the

Moody Blues Moody may refer to: Places * Moody, Alabama, U.S. * Moody, Indiana, U.S. * Moody, Missouri, U.S. * Moody, Texas, U.S. * Moody County, South Dakota, U.S. * Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada * Hundred of Moody, a cadastral division in South A ...

. A more concert-based second MelloFest Two, complete with three Mellotrons onstage and a

Stylophone The Stylophone is a miniature analog electronic keyboard musical instrument played with a stylus. Invented in 1967 by Brian Jarvis, it entered production in 1968, manufactured by Dubreq. Some three million Stylophones were sold, mostly as chi ...

, took place at The Luminaire in London on 2 May 2009 featuring Clarke, Orford, Webb, Maggie Alexander, Mark Rae, Andy Thompson and a virtual appearance from Jordan Rudess of

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

demonstrating the new Ellatron

iPod The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...

/ iPhone Mellotron app. MelloFest Three is the Nick Awde & Desert Hearts EP ''Close to the Edge'', released in early 2010. MelloFest Four will be the band's follow-up album ''MelloRetro''. MelloFest Six is 2011's ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...

Unplugged'' at the Union Chapel, north London, a music biz update of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

' classic ''

'' arranged by Awde, written by Chris Bartlett and starring Noddy Holder of Slade. Musicians appearing in the show at the Union Chapel, north London, are Robert Webb, Simon Scardanelli, Andy Thompson, Knox of The Vibrators, Marc Atkinson,

Grace Solero Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an unin ...

and member of parliament and deputy transport minister Norman Baker. The stage director is Saul Reichlin.

Academic work

As Nicholas Awde, Hill has written or edited books on non-European languages and cultures, including a '' Chechen Phrasebook'', a ''Georgian Phrasebook'', ''Women in Islam: An Anthology from the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

and Hadiths'', ''An Illustrated History of Islam'' and an ''Arabic Dictionary''. He has written three other dictionaries for Swahili,

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...

and Hausa, as well as 15-plus dictionary-phrasebooks. He has commissioned many authors, particularly from the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

, editing and designing their books for other publishers. He is also a long-standing consultant on the Caucasus, and, with

Fred James Hill Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Rodr ...

, runs the publishing companies Bennett & Bloom (academic) and

(general arts).

Dramatic works

* ''Migraaaants!'', translation from French of Matei Visniec's play (2016) * ''Jason (...and the Fleeced)'' (2016) * ''Khojaly: The Play'' (2016) * ''The Europeans (Antwerp)'' (2015) * Translator's Introduction (in Italian) in ''La Bella Tarantola nel grano e altre storie di Puglia'' (2015) * ''Hecuba'', translation from French of Matei Visniec's play (2015) * ''The Europeans (Bruges)'' (2014) * ''Jamie and the Mountain Monsters'', featuring Matt Panesh aka

Monkey Poet Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

(2014) * Translations from Romanian of ''Occidental Express'', ''Spider'' and ''Decomposed Theatre'', in

Matei Visniec Matei is a Romanian name. It is equivalent to the English name Matthew. As a given name * Matei Balș, Romanian bacteriologist *Matei Basarab, Wallachian Voivode between 1632 and 1654 *Matei Boilă, Romanian politician and priest *Matei Călinesc ...

: '' How to Explain the History of Communism to Mental Patients and Other Plays'' (2014) * ''HEADS UP! (The Prisoner of Terminal 4, or: Hague’s Miranda Samba) – A Flash Mob Satire'' (2013) * ''Jimmy Savile: The Punch and Judy Show'' (2013) * ''Noddy Holder's A Christmas Carol Unplugged'' (producer, director & musical arranger, 2011) * ''Blood Confession'' (2007) * ''Unnatural Acts'' (2007), with Chris Bartlett * ''Pete and Dud: Come Again'' (2005), with Chris Bartlett * ''Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Musical'' (1994) * ''Semtex & Lipstick'' (1993) * ''Eros & the Skull'' (1988), with Peter Stevenson & John FitZgeRald * Design: ''Tewodros'' (1987)

Discography

* ''Paradox of Choice'', Mindgames – vocal session (2015) * ''Mellotronic Belgian Blues'' (as Nick Awde, 2015) * ''Close to the Edge B/W Rocket Man/Meryl Streep'' (as Nick Awde & Desert Hearts, 2010) * ''Always Tomorrow'', The Reform Club with Norman Baker (2013) – sessions,

* ''Comandamenti di Auriti'', Heather Beaumont,

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

(2013) – voices

Select bibliography

2010 * ''Georgia: A Short History'', edited with Fred James Hill (forthcoming) * ''One-Person Show'' (forthcoming) * ''Singer-Songwriters Vol. 1'' (forthcoming) * ''Zazaki (Dimli) Phrasebook'' (forthcoming) * ''Kurdish (Kurmanji) Phrasebook'' (forthcoming) * ''The Armenians: People, Culture & History'', edited with Fred James Hill (forthcoming) 2009 * ''The Azerbaijanis: People, Culture & History'', edited with Fred James Hill * ''

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

( Sorani) Phrasebook'' * ''

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

Phrasebook'' 2008 * ''

: The Machine and the Musicians that Revolutionised Rock'' 2007 * ''Modern Aramaic Dictionary & Phrasebook (Assyrian/Syriac: Swadaya and Turoyo)'', with Nineb Limassu and Nicholas Al-Jeloo 2006 * ''Pete and Dud: Come Again'', with Chris Bartlett * ''Western Armenian Dictionary & Phrasebook'', with Vazken-Khatchig Davidian * ''Farsi Dictionary & Phrasebook'', with Camilla Shahribaf 2005 * ''Women in Islam: An Anthology from the Qur'an & Hadiths'' irst edition 1985* ''Turkmen Dictionary & Phrasebook'', with William Dirks & Amandurdy Amadurdyev 2004 * ''Serbian Dictionary & Phrasebook'', with Duska Radosavljevic 2003 * ''The Virgin Killers'' * ''History of the Islamic World (Illustrated)'', with Fred James Hill * ''Eastern Armenian Dictionary & Phrasebook'', with Peter Maghdashyan * ''Pashto Dictionary & Phrasebook'', with Asmatullah Sarwan * ''Dari Dictionary & Phrasebook'' * ''Urdu Dictionary & Phrasebook'' 2002 * ''London: An Illustrated History'', with Robert Chester * ''Uzbek Dictionary & Phrasebook'', with William Dirks & Umida Hikmatullaeva * ''Swahili Dictionary & Phrasebook'' 2001 * ''Armenian First Names'', with Emanuela Losi 2000 * ''Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Musical'' * ''Swahili Dictionary'' 1999 * ''The Little Big Woman Book'', by Llewella Gideon, illustrated by Nick Awde * ''Somali Dictionary & Phrasebook'' * ''Azerbaijani Dictionary & Phrasebook'', with Famil Ismailov * ''Igbo Dictionary & Phrasebook'', with

Onyekachi Wambu Onyekachi Wambu (born 1960) is a Nigerian-British journalist and writer. He has directed television documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4 and PBS. Life Onyekachi Wambu was born in Nigeria in 1960. In 1970, after the Nigerian Civil War, he and his ...

* ''Treasury of Indian Love: Poems & Proverbs'', with Christopher Shackle 1997 * ''Armenian Perspectives'' (edited) * ''Treasury of African Love: Poems & Proverbs'' * ''Georgian Dictionary & Phrasebook'', with Thea Khitarishvili * ''The Mandeer Ayurvedic Cookbook'', by Ramesh Patel, illustrated by Nick Awde 1996 * ''I Saw Satan on the Northern Line: Love Songs from the Underground'' * ''Chechen Dictionary and Phrasebook'', with Muhammad Galaev * ''Serbo-Croatian Dictionary'' * ''Hausa Dictionary'' * ''Qasida Poetry in Islamic Asia and Africa (Studies in Arabic literature): Vols. 1 & 2'', edited by Stefan Sperl & Christopher Shackle, consultant editor Nicholas Awde 1992 * ''Playground: Vols. 1, 2 & 3'', with Imad Alassir 1987 * ''21st Century Hausa'' * ''Hausa Reader'' 1986 * ''Arabic: How to Read & Write It'' 1985 * ''Women in Islam: An Anthology from the Qur'an & Hadiths'' ew edition 2005* ''Bibliography of Caucasian Linguistics'' 1982 * ''Pickled Priests'', illustrated by Nick Awde

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Awde, Nick 1961 births Living people British male singer-songwriters British theatre critics British expatriates in Nigeria British expatriates in Sudan British expatriates in Kenya Alumni of SOAS University of London Writers from London Gargleblast Records artists Awde