The Society is currently running a project to buy and renovate the lifelong home of Nicholson, one of the 20th century’s leading poets, who was born above his father’s tailor’s shop in 1914 and lived in the same house – a three-storey Victorian terraced house – until his death in 1987.
The house, in Millom’s St George’s Terrace, featured prominently in the festival with an ‘open house’ invitation for anyone to drop in, and study sessions turning the focus onto Nicholson’s poetry.
Other events included a presentation by Karen Lloyd, editor of the recently published anthology of writing about the North of England ‘North Country’, the showing of two short films with local relevance, an evening of music, poetry and readings, a guided walk, and a children’s art workshop.
Chair of the Society Charlie Lambert said: ‘The festival was a huge success. We’ve been delighted with the responses which have been uniformly positive. Our last festival had to be held online because of Covid so it was wonderful to see so many creative people coming together in Millom, especially knowing that attendees had travelled from as far as Manchester, Liverpool and London.’
As a further boost, the Norman Nicholson Society has been named ‘Society of the Month’ by the Alliance of Literary Societies. There’s more information about the Society at www.normannicholson.org and more about their project to buy the house at www.normannicholsonhouse.co.uk
