Norman Nicholson
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Norman Cornthwaite Nicholson (8 January 1914 – 30 May 1987) was an English poet associated with the
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
n town of
Millom Millom is a town and civil parish on the north shore of the estuary of the River Duddon in southwest Cumbria, historically part of Cumberland, England. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, about north of Barrow-in-Furne ...
. His poetry is noted for local concerns, straightforward language, and elements of common speech. Although known chiefly for poetry, Nicholson wrote much in other forms: novels, plays, essays, topography and criticism.


Life

Nicholson lived in 14 St George's Terrace, a Victorian terraced house and shop in the small industrial town of Millom on the edge of the
Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...
, the son of Joseph Nicholson, a gentleman's outfitter, and his wife Edith Cornthwaite (died 1919). Nicholson was educated at Holborn Hill School and Millom Secondary School, but his education was interrupted at the age of 16, when he needed treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis. He then spent two years at a sanatorium in Linford, Hampshire. Nicholson was influenced by the social and religious community around the local Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Millom, to which belonged Rosetta Sobey, who became his stepmother in 1922. However he was confirmed in 1940 into the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
. He was married in 1956 to Yvonne Edith Gardner (died 1982), a teacher who had consulted him about a school production of his play ''The Old Man of the Mountains''. They began to travel extensively in Northern England, Scotland and
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
. They had no children. Norman Nicholson died on 30 May 1987 in
Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...
and was buried in St George's Churchyard, Millom.


Writings

Nicholson's writing career stretched from the 1930s until his death in 1987. He was published by T. S. Eliot at
Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
. His works include ''Rock Face'' (1948) and the later ''Sea to the West'' (1981). He was elected to 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 ...
in 1945. He received altogether five honorary degrees from British universities, the Queen's Award for Poetry in 1977, and the OBE in 1981. The work of Norman Nicholson is marked by a simplicity and directness of language drawn from the vernacular of the common people in his native town. Much of it concerns mining, quarrying and ironworks – the dominant industries in his area. Religion and faith were another aspect of his work. His poetry also abounds with direct quotations from everyday life, skilfully woven into the body of the poem. The opening of "Old Man at a Cricket Match" is typical:
'It's mending worse,' he said, Bending west his head...
One important trait in Nicholson's work is conscious adoption of provincialism coupled with a conscious rejection of the value judgements associated with it: "the smug, the narrow, the short-sighted... a bad copy of the life of the capital," as he called them. To him a provincial was one who lives in the place his parents, friends and relations live, where there is a shared culture, not "an enormous heterogeneous collection of people gathered from all corners of the country and deposited like silt at the delta of a great river." It is in a contained provincial community, "in our intense concern with what is close to us, that we most resemble the people of other countries and other times" and gain awareness of "that which is enduring in life and society." Another important feature is Nicholson's Christianity. The religious 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 The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
in a distinctly Cumbrian setting. A fourth, ''Prophesy to the Wind'' (1947) is about survival after nuclear disaster. As a poet Nicholson is not generally associated with any of the 20th-century movements. Like
Charles Causley Charles Stanley Causley CBE FRSL (24 August 1917 – 4 November 2003) was a British poet, school teacher and writer. His work is often noted for its simplicity and directness as well as its associations with folklore, legends and magic, especi ...
, he seems to be considered more of an isolated figure, working on his poetry outside the mainstream of poetic trends. Nonetheless, he acknowledged a debt to
W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
and the way he had "turned to the industrial scene." His descriptive poetry can be remarkably vivid:
Above the collar of crags, The granite pate breaks bare to the sky Through a tonsure of bracken and bilberry. (From "Eskdale Granite")
Nicholson's Lake District is not the Lake District of the Tourist Board, not
Hawkshead Hawkshead is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, which attracts tourists to the South Lakeland area. The parish includes the hamlets of Hawkshead Hill, to the north west, and Outgate, a similar distance north. Hawkshead contains one ...
and
Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...
, but the industrial coastal towns of Millom, Egremont, Whitehaven,
Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Histo ...
and Askam. His admirers included T. S. Eliot and
Ted Hughes Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...
, and
Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.
, who wrote in a poem of tribute:
...those Cumbrian phonetics cracked like a plaited whip until the slack, nostalgic ambler in me trotted on the paved margin of my own black pool — Dublin black pool, dubh linn ...that is yours and mine as well
Other aspects of Nicholson include his social awareness as a champion of the working class. He worked as a lecturer for the
Workers' Educational Association The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...
. His poem "
Windscale Sellafield is a large multi-function nuclear site close to Seascale on the coast of Cumbria, England. As of August 2022, primary activities are nuclear waste storage, nuclear waste processing and storage and nuclear decommissioning. Former act ...
" about a 1957 nuclear accident has become something of an environmentalists' anthem.
The toadstool towers infest the shore: Stink-horns that propagate and spore Wherever the wind blows. Scafell looks down from the bracken band And sees hell in a grain of sand, And feels the canker itch between his toes. This is a land where the dirt is clean And poison pasture, quick and green, And storm sky, bright and bare; Where sewers flow with milk, and meat is carved up for the fire to eat, And children suffocate in God's fresh air.
Nicholson was the subject of a
South Bank Show ''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, ...
broadcast in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
on 4 November 1984.


Partial bibliography


Legacy

Millom Library and the
John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriquet ...
, Manchester, have bronze busts of Nicholson by Joan Palmer. A memorial stained-glass window created by Christine Boyce can be found in St George's Church, Millom. ;Archive Nicholson's papers are in the
John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriquet ...
, Manchester ;Exhibitio
Millom Discovery Centre
houses information about Norman Nicholson. ;Library Nicholson's personal collection of published poetry was acquired by the John Rylands Library, Manchester, from his family. ;Residence Norman Nicholson's home at 14 St George's Terrace has become a food shop and café; there is a commemorative
blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
on the front of the building. ;Norman Nicholson Society This was inaugurated in Millom on 31 March 2006, to celebrate and promote Nicholson's work as widely as possible.
Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, (born 6 October 1939), is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is best known for his work with ITV as editor and presenter of ''The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010), and for the BBC Radio 4 documenta ...
is the Honorary President. It aims to be a focal point for appreciation and research and encourage republication of any Nicholson's works currently out of print. Talks and events are arranged throughout the year. The newsletter ''Comet'', published and distributed free to members, contains articles on Nicholson's life and work, information about events and original material from members. Contributors have included David Cooper, Neil Curry,
U. A. Fanthorpe Ursula Askham Fanthorpe, Commander of the British Empire, CBE, Royal Society of Literature, FRSL (22 July 1929 – 28 April 2009) was an English poet, who published as U. A. Fanthorpe. Her poetry comments mainly on social issues. Life and work ...
, Harry Whalley and Matt Simpson. Contributions relevant to Nicholson's life and work are invited by the editor, Antoinette Fawcett.Society website
Retrieved 7 May 2012.
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References


Sources

*''Norman Nicholson: The Whispering Poet'', a biography by Royal Literary Fund Fellow Kathleen Jones, The Book Mill, 2013, *''Norman Nicholson at 100 Essays and Memoirs on his Centenary'', Edited by Stephen Matthews and Neil Curry, Bookcase, Carlisle, 2014 *''Norman Nicholson, A Literary Life'' David Boyd, Seascale Press, 2015, *''Norman Nicholson'', Philip Gardner, Twayne's English Authors Series, Twayne, New York, 1973,


Further reading

*Kathleen Jones: ''Norman Nicholson: the whispering poet'', Appleby: Book Mill, c. 2013,


External links


Nicholson in MillomFive Norman Nicholson poems (one previously unpublished) read by Neil CurryLocation of Nicholson's houseNorman Nicholson Gallery
at Millom Discovery Centre, Cumbria
Norman Nicholson Papers
John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriquet ...
, University of Manchester {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Norman 1914 births 1987 deaths 20th-century English poets English male poets Anglican poets Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Millom 20th-century English male writers