Norman Nicholson

Norman Cornthwaite Nicholson, OBE (8 January 1914 – 30 May 1987), was an English poet, known for his association with the Cumbrian town of Millom. His poetry is noted for its local concerns, straightforward language, and elements of common speech. Although chiefly known for poetry, he wrote many works in other forms: novels, plays, essays, topography and criticism.

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 son of Joseph Nicholson, a gentleman's outfitter, and his wife Edith Cornthwaite (died 1919). He lived in the same house for most of his life. Nicholson was educated at Holborn Hill School and Millom Secondary School, but his education was interrupted when he needed treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis aged 16, being away for two years in a Linford, Hampshire sanatorium. He was influenced by the social and religious community around the local Wesleyan Methodist chapel, to which belonged Rosetta Sobey, who became his stepmother in 1922. He was confirmed in 1940 into the Church of England.

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, and they began to travel extensively in Northern England, Scotland and Norway. They had no children.

His writing career stretched from the 1930s up until his death in 1987. He was published by T. S. Eliot at Faber and Faber. His works include Rock Face (1948) and the later Sea to the West (1981). He was elected to the Royal Society of Literature in 1945. He received altogether five honorary degrees from British universities, the Queen's Award for Poetry in 1977, and the OBE in 1981.

He died on 30 May 1987 in Whitehaven and is buried in St George's Churchyard, Millom.

The work of Norman Nicholson is characterised by the simplicity and directness of his language. He attempted to write in the vernacular of the common people in his native town. Much of his work concerned 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:

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