Henry Normal is anything but normal. A prolific poet and writer, he grew up in a poor part of Nottingham and nearly killed himself, after putting on a World War 2 gas mask he found while playing in the rubble of a city bombsite.

Before he became a teenager his mother died, after which he became more introverted, learning to “escape” day-to-day life by reading and watching films. He was set for a prosperous and successful career in the insurance industry but gave it all up to take to the stage. “What have I got to add to the great soap opera of life?” he asked himself, before embarking on his adventure. The world was about to find out.

Touring the comedy circuit in the north of England, he met Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash, with whom he was destined to write one of Britain’s best loved comedies – The Royle Family. Normal and Steve Coogan teamed up to form the Baby Cow Production company – which made Gavin and Stacey and the film Philomena. Normal also found time to start annual poetry festivals in Manchester and in Nottingham.

He lives on the south coast but continues to support his beloved Nottingham Forest and has recently performed in all 12 of the city’s libraries. “I love coming from Nottingham, there’s lots of brilliant things about the East Midlands.” His journey takes in an iconic record shop in Notts, Seamus Heaney and a cheque for a million pounds, and a man earning a living by eating up a bag of onions on stage.

Midlands Hero: Alan Sillitoe. “He was one of the people who made me believe you could write as a working class lad,” says Henry. “It was the world I inhabited that he was doing.” He recalls reading The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and initially being puzzled when the main character stopped running. “And then I understood. He’d rather lose on his own terms than win on somebody else’s.”

This episode was recorded in July 2023 in front of a live audience at the Palace Theatre, Newark.

Commissioned by Newark Book Festival and proudly produced by Loftus Media.

Image of Henry Normal by Richard Davis.

Music by Maia Miller-Lewis.

Who are your Midlands Heroes and what are your Midlands Masterpieces? Tell us at: [email protected]

Dive into the sound of the Midlands via our 'Made in the Midlands' playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7lTguCtjyUEMxzGoQYheLu

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