The poet, Norman Nicholson, lived his whole life in the Cumbrian coastal town of Millom. When he was born there in 1914 it was dominated by an iron ore mine and one of the biggest ironworks in Europe, but when he died in 1987 there was hardly any trace of it to be seen. These changes - to the place and to the people - he recorded in carefully crafted verse. What was once regarded as a narrow ‘parochialism' gave him a depth of understanding which is now recognised as one of his major strengths.

Writers on Norman Nicholson have tended to undervalue his prose. In his Twayne Series (1973) study, Philip Gardner, an informed and sensitive critic of the poetry, called the prose works ‘peripheral', and referred to …

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Citation: Curry, Neil. "Norman Nicholson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 January 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11963, accessed 29 March 2024.]

11963 Norman Nicholson 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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