Nick Awde Hill (born 29 December 1961 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, 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 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 Catholic boarding school Stonyhurst College 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 develo ...

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 build ...

. He studied

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a 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. E.Watson; Walter ...

and

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

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 a ...

, 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 Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...

and

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...

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 Jessica Cecelia Anna Maria Martin (born 25 August 1962) is an English actress, singer, and impressionist whose career has diversified to include comic writing and illustrating. Her television roles have included ''Spitting Image'', '' Copy Cats ...

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 Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned".Andrew Lloyd Webber 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 ...

' 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 – 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 Nick Awde Hill (born 29 December 1961 in London, England) is a British writer, artist, singer-songwriter and critic. He is based in London and Brussels. Personal life The son of an international lawyer (who formulated laws that enable container ...

series. It is a thriller about murders of priests at a Catholic prep 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 Lancash ...

that lead to a trail of Jesuit and Freemason conspiracies deep within the British Establishment. 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 The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' 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 ''

'' 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'' 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 Llewella Gideon (born 27 September 1967 in Peckham, South London) is a British actress, comedian and writer. She has appeared in a number of comedy series, including '' Absolutely Fabulous'', '' The Real McCoy'', '' The Crouches'', and ''The De ...

'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 ...

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 Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...

'', a mini album laced with Mellotron 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 '' Mellotron''. 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 si ...

(

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

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 Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis ...

Band), Martin Orford ( IQ),

Jakko Jakszyk Michael "Jakko" Jakszyk (born Michael Lee Curran, 8 June 1958) is an English musician, record producer, and actor. He has released several solo albums as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist and has been the lead singer for King Crims ...

( 21st Century Schizoid Band/

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. Mo ...

Level 42 Level 42 is an English jazz-funk band formed on the Isle of Wight in 1979. They had a number of UK and worldwide hits during the 1980s and 1990s. Their highest-charting single in the UK was " Lessons in Love", which reached number three on th ...

Dave Cousins Dave Cousins (born David Joseph Hindson; 7 January 1945) is an English musician who has been the leader, singer and most-active songwriter of Strawbs since 1967. Career Cousins is a founder member of the Strawbs, which started out as the Str ...

( Strawbs) &

Robert Kirby Robert Kirby (16 April 1948 – 3 October 2009) was a British-born arranger of string sections for rock and folk music. He was best known for his work on the Nick Drake albums, ''Five Leaves Left'' and '' Bryter Layter'', but also worked ...

( Strawbs/ Nick Drake/

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul mu ...

Robert Webb Robert Patrick Webb (born 29 September 1972) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is one half of the double act Mitchell and Webb, alongside David Mitchell. Webb and Mitchell both starred in the Channel 4 sitco ...

(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. A more concert-based second MelloFest Two, complete with three Mellotrons onstage and a Stylophone, 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 Jordan Rudess (born Jordan Charles Rudes; November 4, 1956) is an American musician, software developer and composer best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the progressive metal supergroup Liquid Tension Experi ...

of Dream Theater demonstrating the new Ellatron iPod/ 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 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 '' A Christmas Carol'' arranged by Awde, written by Chris Bartlett and starring

Noddy Holder Neville John "Noddy" Holder (born 15 June 1946) is an English musician. He was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the English band Slade, one of the UK's most successful acts of the 1970s. Known for his unique and powerful voice, Holder co ...

Slade Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...

. Musicians appearing in the show at the Union Chapel, north London, are

, Simon Scardanelli, Andy Thompson, Knox of

The Vibrators The Vibrators are a British punk rock band that formed in 1976. Early career The Vibrators were founded by Ian ' Knox' Carnochan, bassist Pat Collier, guitarist John Ellis, and drummer John 'Eddie' Edwards. They first came to public notice ...

, 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 Norman John Baker (born 26 July 1957) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewes in East Sussex from the 1997 general election until his defeat in 2015. In May 2010 he was appointed ...

. The stage director is

Saul Reichlin Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

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.: , s ...

and

Hadiths Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

'', ''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 an ...

and

, 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 (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

, editing and designing their books for other publishers. He is also a long-standing consultant on the Caucasus, and, with Fred James Hill, 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 (2014) * Translations from Romanian of ''Occidental Express'', ''Spider'' and ''Decomposed Theatre'', in Matei Visniec: '' 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

(2013) – sessions, Mellotron * ''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 Central Kurdish (), also called Sorani (), is a Kurdish dialect or a language that is spoken in Iraq, mainly in Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and West Azerbaijan in western Iran. Sorani is one of the two o ...

) Phrasebook'' * ''

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

Phrasebook'' 2008 * '' Mellotron: 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 An infrared search and track (IRST) system (sometimes known as infrared sighting and tracking) is a method for detecting and tracking objects which give off infrared radiation, such as the infrared signatures of jet aircraft and helicopters. IR ...

* ''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