Christopher Nolan (6 September 1965 – 20 February 2009) was an Irish poet and author. He was born in Mullingar, Ireland, but later moved to Dublin. He was educated at the Central Remedial Clinic School, Mount Temple Comprehensive School and at Trinity College, Dublin. His first book was published when he was fifteen. He won the Whitbread Book Award for his autobiography in 1987. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in the UK, the medal of excellence from the United Nations Society of Writers, and a Person of the Year award in Ireland.

Because of his cerebral palsy, he experienced quadriplegia since birth. He died due to choking on 20 February 2009.

Biography

Early life

Christopher Nolan was born to parents Joseph and Bernadette Nolan. He grew up in Mullingar, Ireland. Due to asphyxiation at birth, Christopher was born with permanent impairment of his "nerve-signalling system, a condition he said is now labelled dystonia". His mother stated that "he wrote extensively since the age of 11 and went on to write many poems, short stories and two plays, many of which were published." Many of the writings described here by Nolan's mother were compiled for his first publication, the chapbook Dam-Burst of Dreams.

Mature work

Upon becoming a teenager, Nolan received his education from the Central Remedial Clinic School, Mount Temple Comprehensive School and at Trinity College, Dublin. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in the UK, the medal of excellence from the United Nations Society of Writers, and a Person of the Year award in Ireland. He wrote an account of his childhood, Under the Eye of the Clock, published by St. Martin's Press, which won him the UK's Whitbread Book of the Year Award in 1987 at the age of 21. He soon dropped out of Trinity College to write a novel entitled The Banyan Tree (1999).

Nolan spent more than a decade writing The Banyan Tree. According to The New York Times the book is a multi-generational story of a dairy-farming family in Nolan's native county of Westmeath. The story is seen through the eyes of the ageing mother. Nolan however, gives the reader a version of the mother's story. "And so, in the end, one suspects that he wants Minnie's good-natured, commonplace ways to stand as their own achievement, reminding us that life continues in the places left behind."

Nolan wrote The Banyan Tree (published 1999) in perspective of a country woman, Minnie O'Brien. The novel spans 80 years of Minnie's life, cutting from present to past to show the individuality of a woman and a mother who is determined to save the family's farm. The Philadelphia Inquirer appreciated "Nolan's soaring language and lilting alliterative style [which] suffuse [...] much of the book with a sense of the miraculous" and The New York Times Book Review found it "richly – even baroquely – told [...] Nolan writes with verve."

Dam-Burst of Dreams (published 1981), provided Nolan critical acclaim that compared him to the works of W. B. Yeats and James Joyce. The collection was published four years after Nolan was administered Lioresal but some of the poems were written when Nolan was just 12 years old. The title of the collection emphasized the recurrent theme of the overflow and release of his mental intellect. The collection's poems are heavy with alliteration and incorporate neologisms that draw from combinations of pre-existing root words.

Influences and mentors

Nolan often discouraged inquiries about his literary influences. During an interview, he once wrote: "Everything is an influence to a person trapped in a nightmare!" Nolan's enthusiasm for literature however was largely attributed to his father's appreciation of James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, and D. H. Lawrence. Every night his father would read him several passages from Joyce's Ulysses and other literary works. Listening to such pieces not only kept Nolan stimulated but piqued his interest in writing his own poetry.

In a poetry competition hosted by the British Spastics Society, Nolan received praise from writer Edna Healey, wife of then Chancellor of the Exchequer Denis Healey. As a judge of the competition, she was one of the early recognizers of Nolan's writing abilities. Healey was later invited as a guest on the BBC program titled "The World this Weekend." On the broadcast in response to the question "what was the most impressive moment," she remarked that reading Nolan's work: "Was the highspot of my year."

When enrolling him for secondary school, Nolan's family struggled to convince educators that Nolan would be able to function in a regular class setting. Mount Temple Comprehensive School headmaster John Medlycott believed it was possible to devise a set-up to accommodate Nolan:

Thanks to Medlycott, Nolan was accepted into Mount Temple and later was received by Trinity College, Dublin after Medlycott provided a personal recommendation.

Bono said of Nolan:

On R.E.M.'s 1988 Green album, the song "The Wrong Child" was inspired by Nolan's memoir Under the Eye of the Clock. The song deals with a child who wishes to play with his peers outside but is instead laughed at. Throughout the song, the refrain "I'm not supposed to be like this / But it's okay" is repeated several times.

Nolan was once approached by a Los Angeles film producer who was interested in making his biography into a movie. Nolan declined the offer and responded:

Honours

In 1988 he was made a member of Aosdána. The "Eye of the Clock Awards" are hosted in the last week of school for all students. These awards are given to students for extraordinary efforts in school and are inspired by Nolan's efforts in school.

In 2025, he was posthumously awarded a degree by Trinity College Dublin in recognition of his work.

References

  • Writer Christopher Nolan dies, aged 43
  • "The Economist" obituary