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.

Early life

George Leslie Norris was born in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales.[1] His father George was a tall athletic man lacking education, because he had to fight in the First World War. After the war his father was employed as an engineer in a coal mine. Leslie had two younger brothers, Eric and Gordon.

Leslie grew up in Wales during the Great Depression. He enjoyed reading books and playing sports as a kid. [1] 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.[2] He had a cheerful childhood. When he was nineteen years old he joined the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.[1] Leslie initially trained as a pilot, but was injured when he collided with another plane on the ground while practicing landings. After his recovery, he spent the remainder of his time in the Air Force playing football on the Air Force team.

Leslie went to the City of Coventry College of Education at the University of Southampton. He began teaching there and would later become principal, which inspired his love of teaching.[1]

He married Catherine (Kitty) Morgan in July 1948, and remained together the rest of his life. The couple had no children.[1] Leslie and Kitty had one child, who died in infancy.

When Leslie was a teenager he sent his first poems to Vernon Watkins who found his poems not very profound, but gave him some advice. This had a main influence on his writing style for years. In his free time he wrote poems and earned his money by being an unofficial worker for the local government. Then he worked as a teacher and rose to a headmaster, finally to a college lecturer. Later in 1974, at the urging of his wife, he started his career as a professional writer of poems and stories.

Teaching career

Leslie taught in schools in Yeovil and Bath from 1952 to 1958. He was the headmaster of Westergate School, Chichester. He also lectured at the College of Education in Bognor Regis.[3] Leslie began teaching at the University in Sussex in 1958.[1] Leslie became a visiting professor at the University of Washington in 1973. He was so impacted by his experience teaching in America that he returned to England only to resign as principal at Bognor Regis.[3] In 1981 and 1982 Leslie Norris was a visiting poet-in-residence at the University of Washington, where he taught and made deep friendships. in 1982, along with his friend, the late Professor Nelson Bentley, Norris helped the successful start of a student's literary magazine (Fine Madness) by inviting his friends and students in Great Britain and the U.S. to submit poems.

In 1983 Norris was invited to teach for six months at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, United States of America. He settled with his wife, Catherine Morgan, and remained there until his death. He was appointed the official Poet-in-Residence at the university. Leslie was made a Professor of Creative Writing.[3] He contributed to the cultural life of Provo (and of the entire Utah Valley) by organizing Eisteddfods, the traditional Welsh cultural festivals. Among his last works were a series of autobiographical poems, some of which have been published separately, but which he hoped would constitute one poem sequence something like this Wordsworth's Prelude.

Some of his documents, personal materials and letters are in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections at the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU.[4]

Literary work

Norris started writing poems at the age of seven years. He published his first poem in 1938 and by 1943, he published his first book of poetry.[2] His career as a poet began to take off when his first collection Finding Gold was published.

In addition to poems and short stories, Norris published translation, biographies, and reviews.[1]

His works deal with such themes as his Welsh home, his past, especially the pre-war period, his experiences as a teacher, nature, and the life of the instinct. He is considered a fine technician.[5] Interviews and lectures with Leslie show that he never sat down planning to write. He simply played off inspiration he received at various times of the day. When he would resume writing after stopping for the day, he would re-read everything he had so far to maintain the style.

His work was won numerous awards, including the Cholmondeley Poetry Prize, the David Higham Memorial Prize, the Katherine Mansfield Memorial Award, the AML Award for poetry (in 1996), and the Welsh Arts Council Senior Fiction Award.[3] He is also an honorary Doctor of Letters of the University of Glamorgan, and honorary Doctor of Humane Letters of BYU. Leslie is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Welsh Academy.[6]

Publications

Tribute from Dean Rosenberg

Leslie died on April 6, 2006 in Provo.[1]

"His obituaries ran from his native Wales to his adopted Provo, through every other place of literary prominence in between. His poetic voice was pure, authentic, and deceptively simple. He was great in a land of great poets. He was also a primary school teacher. And a headmaster. Though he went on to publicly prestigious things, he remained a teacher. He taught the most gifted creative writing students at BYU and helped launch their careers; he also read his stories and poems to countless school children."[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Finding aid authors: Kristi Young (2013). "Charles Schlessiger correspondence regarding Leslie Norris". Prepared for the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Provo, UT. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Author Profile: Leslie Norris". Literary Worlds: Illumination of the Mind. Brigham Young University.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Leslie Norris". The Royal Society of Literature. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  4. ↑ Finding aid authors: Daniel Sorenson (2011). "Leslie Norris papers". Prepared for the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Provo, UT. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Leslie Norris - 1921-2006". Writer's Plaques. Literature Wales. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "Leslie Norris". Wells Book Arts Center. Wells College. Archived from the original on 14 Jun 2007. Retrieved 2 Dec 2005.
  7. ↑ Rosenberg, John R. Rosenberg (Summer 2006). Humanities (Brigham Young University). Missing or empty |title= (help)

Further reading

External links

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