Henry Normal is a writer, poet, TV and film producer, founder
of the Manchester Poetry Festival (now the Manchester Literature Festival) and
co-founder of the Nottingham Poetry Festival. In June 2017 he was honoured with
a special BAFTA for services to television.
Henry co-wrote and script edited the multi-award winning Mrs
Merton Show and the spin-off series Mrs Merton and Malcolm. He also co-created
and co-wrote the first series of The Royle Family. With Steve Coogan, he co-wrote
the BAFTA-winning Paul and Pauline Calf Video Diaries, Coogan's Run, Tony
Ferrino, Doctor Terrible, all of Steve's live tours, and the film The Parole
Officer. Setting up Baby Cow Productions Ltd in 1999, Henry Executive Produced
all, and script edited many, of the shows of its seventeen and a half year
output during his tenure as MD. Highlights of the Baby Cow output during this
time include Oscar-nominated Philomena, I Believe in Miracles, Gavin and
Stacey, Moone Boy, The Mighty Boosh, Marion and Geoff, Red Dwarf, Uncle, Nighty
Night, Hunderby, Camping and Alan Partridge. Since retiring in April 2016,
Henry has written and performed two BBC Radio 4 shows, A Normal Family and A
Normal Life, combining comedy, poetry and stories about bringing up his
autistic son.
Born in St Annes, Nottingham, Henry now lives in
Brighton with his wife, the screenwriter, Angela Pell, and their son, Johnny. He
was recently given a Honorary Doctorate of letters by Nottingham Trent
University and has had a beer named after him in his home city.
Forthcoming Events:
Travelling Second Class Through Hope
14 Sept - Old Fire Station, Carlisle; 15 Sept - Paines Plough Roundabout, Grasmere; 16 Sept - The Storey Institute, Lancaster
Raining Upwards
27 Sept - Waterstones, Nottingham; 29 Sept - Central
Library, Manchester; 30 Sept - Southport
(details tbc); 3 Oct - Komedia,
Brighton; 5 Oct - Poetry Cafe,
London
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Raining Upwards is Henry's first all new poetry collection in over twenty years.
The poems explore relationships with science, nature, humanity, and other vital matters we are usually too busy to think about.
Includes a Foreword by Tim Firth.
Cover art by Johnny Carroll-Pell.
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Travelling Second Class Through Hope contains seventy poems personally selected by the author from his early works.
Includes a Foreword by Lemn Sissay MBE.
Guardian Review 13 May 2017: The Saturday Poem
"Dovetails bittersweet poetry with a sublimely observant wit" - The Guardian
"The Alan Bennett of Poetry" - The Scotsman
"The nerd triumphant" - Manchester Evening News
"A gentle giant of stand-up poetry" - List
"In amongst his work lie some of the most tender, compassionate and moving pieces I have read from a modern poet" - Artful Reporter
"The enfant terrible of alternative poetry" - Leeds Other Paper
"Witty and uncannily accurate with his observations" - The Stage
"Distinctly funny" - Time Out
Cover photo courtesy of the author, design by Brink.
Flapjack Press: exploring the synergy between performance and the page.