Jeff Nuttall
Encyclopedia
Jeff Nuttall was an English
poet
, publisher, actor
, painter
, sculptor
, jazz
trumpeter, anarchist sympathiser and social commentator who was a key part of the British 1960s counter-culture. He was the brother of literary critic A. D. Nuttall
.
, Lancashire
, and grew up in Herefordshire
. He studied painting in the years after the Second World War and began publishing poetry in the early 1960s. Together with Bob Cobbing
, he founded the influential Writers Forum Press and writers workshop. He also associated with many of the American beat generation
writers, especially William Burroughs.
In 1966 he was one of the founders of the People Show
, an early and long-lasting performance art
group and was involved in the founding of the UK underground newspaper International Times
.
In 1967 two of his illustrations appeared in counter-culture tabloid newspaper The Last Times (Volume 1, number 1, Fall 1967) published by Charles Plymell
.
His 1968 book Bomb Culture
was one of the key texts of the countercultural revolution of the time, a work which drew the links between the emergence of alternatives to mainstream societal norms and the threatening backdrop of potential nuclear cataclysm. Nuttall was one of the pioneers of the happening
in Britain.
Nuttall served as Chairman of the National Poetry Society
from 1975 to 1976, a period when the Society briefly served as a home for the British Poetry Revival
. He was poetry critic for a number of national newspapers and was the Poetry Society nominee for Poet Laureate
but was overlooked in favour of Ted Hughes
.
Nuttall worked as an art teacher; senior lecturer at Leeds Polytechnic and was head of fine art at Liverpool Polytechnic. As an actor he appeared in over 40 feature films and television programmes. His Selected Poems was published by Salt Publishing in 2003.
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, publisher, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
trumpeter, anarchist sympathiser and social commentator who was a key part of the British 1960s counter-culture. He was the brother of literary critic A. D. Nuttall
Anthony Nuttall
Anthony David Nuttall was an English literary critic and academic.Nuttall was educated at Hereford Cathedral School, Watford Grammar School for Boys and Merton College, Oxford,where he studied both Classical Moderations and English Literature...
.
Life and work
Jeff Nuttall was born in ClitheroeClitheroe
Clitheroe is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is 1½ miles from the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists in the area. It has a population of 14,697...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, and grew up in Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
. He studied painting in the years after the Second World War and began publishing poetry in the early 1960s. Together with Bob Cobbing
Bob Cobbing
Bob Cobbing was a British sound, visual, concrete and performance poet who was a central figure in the British Poetry Revival.-Early life:...
, he founded the influential Writers Forum Press and writers workshop. He also associated with many of the American beat generation
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
writers, especially William Burroughs.
In 1966 he was one of the founders of the People Show
People Show
The People Show is the longest running English experimental theatre company, based in the East End of London.Founded by Jeff Nuttall and Mark Long in 1966 and performing its first show in the basement of Better Books in London's Charing Cross Road, the People Show was London's first performance art...
, an early and long-lasting performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
group and was involved in the founding of the UK underground newspaper International Times
International Times
International Times was an underground newspaper founded in London in 1966. Editors included Hoppy, David Mairowitz, Pete Stansill, Barry Miles, Jim Haynes and playwright Tom McGrath...
.
In 1967 two of his illustrations appeared in counter-culture tabloid newspaper The Last Times (Volume 1, number 1, Fall 1967) published by Charles Plymell
Charles Plymell
Charles Plymell is a poet, novelist, and small press publisher. Plymell has been published widely, collaborated with, and published many poets, writers, and artists, including principals of the Beat Generation....
.
His 1968 book Bomb Culture
Bomb Culture
Bomb Culture is an important book at the time that the counter-culture in London was rapidly emerging. It was later largely forgotten as the 'scene' moved away from the older generation artists towards new happenings....
was one of the key texts of the countercultural revolution of the time, a work which drew the links between the emergence of alternatives to mainstream societal norms and the threatening backdrop of potential nuclear cataclysm. Nuttall was one of the pioneers of the happening
Happening
A happening is a performance, event or situation meant to be considered art, usually as performance art. Happenings take place anywhere , are often multi-disciplinary, with a nonlinear narrative and the active participation of the audience...
in Britain.
Nuttall served as Chairman of the National Poetry Society
Poetry Society
The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry".The Society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society in 1912...
from 1975 to 1976, a period when the Society briefly served as a home for the British Poetry Revival
British Poetry Revival
The British Poetry Revival is the general name given to a loose poetry movement in Britain that took place in the 1960s and 1970s. The revival was a modernist-inspired reaction to the Movement's more conservative approach to British poetry.-Beginnings:...
. He was poetry critic for a number of national newspapers and was the Poetry Society nominee for Poet Laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
but was overlooked in favour of Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes
Edward James Hughes OM , more commonly known as Ted Hughes, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until...
.
Nuttall worked as an art teacher; senior lecturer at Leeds Polytechnic and was head of fine art at Liverpool Polytechnic. As an actor he appeared in over 40 feature films and television programmes. His Selected Poems was published by Salt Publishing in 2003.
Works
- Poems (1963) with Keith Musgrove
- The Limbless Virtuoso (1963) with Keith Musgrove
- The Change (1963) with Allen GinsbergAllen GinsbergIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
- Poems I Want to Forget (1965)
- Come Back Sweet Prince: A Novelette (1966)
- Pieces of Poetry (1966)
- The Case of Isabel and the Bleeding Foetus (1967)
- Songs Sacred and Secular (1967)
- Bomb Culture (1968) cultural criticism
- Penguin Modern PoetsPenguin Modern PoetsPenguin Modern Poets was a series of 27 poetry books published by Penguin Books in the 1960s and 1970s, each containing work by three contemporary poets . The series was begun in 1962 and published an average of two volumes per year throughout the 1960s...
12 (1968) with Alan JacksonAlan Jackson (poet)Alan Jackson is a Scottish poet.Born in Liverpool, of Scottish parents. Back in Edinburgh, 1940. Royal High School, Edinburgh 52-56. Edinburgh University 56-59. Began reading career on Edinburgh Festival fringe, with the London poets, Pete Brown, Mike Horovitz and Libby Houston, 1960...
and William WantlingWilliam WantlingWilliam Wantling was an American poet, novelist, ex-Marine, ex-convict, and college professor born in East Peoria, Illinois. After graduating high school he joined the Marine Corps until 1955. He served in Korea during 1953. After leaving the Marines he moved to California and eventually had a son... - Journals (1968)
- Love Poems (1969)
- Mr. Watkins Got Drunk and Had to Be Carried Home: A Cut-up Piece (1969)
- Pig (1969)
- Jeff Nuttall: Poems 1962–1969 (1970)
- Oscar Christ and the Immaculate Conception (1970)
- The Foxes' Lair (1972)
- Fatty Feedemall's Secret Self: A Dream (1975)
- The Anatomy of My Father's Corpse (1975)
- Man Not Man (1975)
- The House Party (1975)
- Snipe's Spinster (1975) novel
- Objects (1976)
- Common Factors, Vulgar Factions (1977) with Rodick Carmichael
- King Twist : a Portrait of Frank Randle (1978) biography of music hall comedian
- The Gold Hole (1978)
- What Happened to Jackson (1978)
- Grape Notes, Apple Music (1979)
- Performance Art (1979/80) memoirs and scripts, two volumes
- 5X5 (1981) with Glen BaxterGlen BaxterGlen Baxter , nicknamed Colonel Baxter, is an English cartoonist, noted for his absurdist drawings and an overall effect often resembling literary nonsense.Born in Leeds, Baxter was trained at the Leeds College of Art...
, Ian BreakwellIan BreakwellIan Breakwell was a world renowned British fine artist. He was a prolific artist who took a multi-media approach to his observation of society...
, Ivor CutlerIvor CutlerIvor Cutler was a Scottish poet, songwriter and humorist. He became known for his regular performances on BBC radio, and in particular his numerous sessions recorded for John Peel's influential radio programme, and later for Andy Kershaw's programme...
and Anthony EarnshawAnthony EarnshawAnthony Earnshaw was an English anarchist, artist, author, and illustrator.Earnshaw was born in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. His father, a watchmaker and jeweller, died before he was born. His mother ran the family shop until bankruptcy in 1930, when they moved first to Redcar and then to Leeds...
(edited by Asa BenvenisteAsa Benveniste-Career:After the second world war Benveniste, at this time known as Albert, lived in Paris and in 1948 co-founded the Zero Press with George Solomos...
) - Muscle (1982)
- Visual Alchemy (1987) with Bohuslav Barlow
- The Bald Soprano. A Portrait of Lol CoxhillLol CoxhillLowen Coxhill, generally known as Lol Coxhill is a free improvising saxophonist and raconteur...
(1989) - Art and the Degradation of Awareness (1999)
- Selected Poems (2003)