Leslie Norris

George Leslie Norris FRSL (21 May 1921 – 6 April 2006), was a prize-winning Welsh poet and short story writer. He taught at academic institutions in Britain and the United States, including Brigham Young University. Norris is considered one of the most important Welsh writers of the post-war period, and his literary publications have won many prizes.

George Leslie Norris was born in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. His parents were George and Mary Jane Norris. Leslie had two younger brothers, Eric and Gordon. His father George worked as a miner, but after First World War became a milkman because of his declining health. Leslie grew up in Wales during the Great Depression. He enjoyed reading books and playing sports as a kid. He attended Georgetown Primary School from 1926 to 1931. He attended Cyfarthfa Castle Grammar School after that. Throughout school, Norris was involved in sports like football, soccer, and boxing. By age 12, Leslie knew he wanted to be a poet and he went to listen to acclaimed poets like Dylan Thomas and Vernon Watkins. He published his first poem in 1938 at the age of seventeen. That same year, Norris had to drop out of school due to financial pressures. He began working as a rates clerk in the Town Hall in Merthyr.

When he was nineteen years old he joined the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. In May 1940 he trained as a pilot. He got blood poisoning, however, from steel ropes, and was discharged in June 1941. His father died the next year of cancer. Norris returned to his work at the town hall. He became a soccer referee and was part of the Merthyr Referees Society.

Leslie married Catherine (Kitty) Morgan in July 1948, and they remained together the rest of his life. The couple had no children. Kitty was a chemist, and Norris was her second husband. Shortly after their marriage, Leslie was accepted at the City of Coventry Teacher Training College.

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