Fourteen years ago, in short stories, poems and a novel, I struggled to make sense of a childhood spent largely separated from my family. There was a huge weight of stuff I needed to come to terms with. Pieces based less on personal experience grew out of these. Themes of cruelty, deprivation and chanciness explore the pain and wonder of nature and experience. Landscape and wild life give context to my writing. Relationships, separation and loss remain key themes as I grow older.

Biography

Gill’s childhood was disrupted by frequent moves and the competing influences of her father, a Methodist preacher, and her more sceptical Cockney mother.

She was first sent to boarding school at two, and later to a more progressive Quaker co-ed where her education included woodwork, pottery and art. She went on to qualify at Bretton Hall, then taught Primary school music in Clitheroe. Knowing nobody she turned to poetry, but it wasn’t until she moved to Cumbria that she began to write seriously.

In 1971 she established Little Arrow Pottery and became a member of the Guild of Lakeland Craftsmen. As her children grew up she found her interest in writing re-emerging. Her first success came with radio playwriting, which encouraged her to keep at it.

She retired in 1993, still writes and is based in Ulverston, where she is involved in promoting poetry readings through A Poem and A Pint. She belongs to three writing groups. She lives with her second husband and has a large extended family.

To view or download more pictures visit Flickr.

Listen to Gill read from Aftwards, published in The Art of Tying Knots, flax003

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Publications

Poetry in Anthologies:

• On a Bat’s Wing (Edited by Michael Baron. Published by Five Leaves Poetry 2007)
• A Clock- Storm Coming (Cinnamon Press Arvon course anthology, 2006)

Poetry and short stories in magazines (2001-present) include:

• The Edge, Pitch, The Quiet Feather, Pennine Platform, The Long Islander, Fire and Seam.

Plays:

• Scrap Heap, performed at West Yorkshire Playhouse 2003
• Dougie Rides Again, broadcast on BBC Radio Cumbria 1999

Autobiography:

• The Mirror Game: A Memoir, designed by Martin Chester and self-published 2004

Prizes

• ‘Daubenton’s Bats’ highly commended in Mirehouse Poetry Competition 2006
• ‘Afterwards’ won Word Market E Short Story and Poetry Competition 2005
• ‘The Life of the Birds’ runner up in New Plays NW project 2004

Reviews of The Mirror Game

…a fine and important piece of social history with one of the best openings I’ve read in ages – the first paragraph is a stunner.
Nicholson’s tale of childhood found then lost struck enormous chords. Her recall is impressive and occasional flashes of metaphor lift the writing into another realm…well worth reading.
Caroline Carver 2004
Gill Nicholson has produced a little gem here…family memoirs and wartime years with some highly evocative images and writing that hits the button and is astutely observed. This is one of those publications that has something very special about it and deserves a much wider audience.
Keith Richardson Cumbria Life 2004

Personal Reflection

I strive to find language and form to describe things in a way that heightens perception and suggests implications. I have had to reject the rhetoric of my father’s preaching and the sounds of the poetry I grew up with in order to find a personal voice. Even so, my father’s use of incomprehensible words fascinated me and I frequently go to a Thesaurus for inspiration.
My aim is to share with others my take on life in order to have a sense of a common humanity. I am still exploring different genres, working towards a poetry collection, a short story collection, a stage-play production and the publication of my novel.