George Leslie Norris (May 21, 1921, Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales–April 6, 2006, Provo, Utah) was a prize-winning Welsh poet and short story writer. Up to 1974 he earned his living as a college lecturer, teacher and headmaster. From 1974 he combined full-time writing with residencies at academic institutions in Britain and the United States. is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Merthyr Tydfil (Welsh: ) is a town and county borough in Wales, with a population of about 55,000. ... is the 96th day of the year (97th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Provo is a city in Utah and the county seat of Utah County, located about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. ... This article is about the country. ... The poor poet A poet is a person who writes poetry. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... College (Latin collegium) is a term most often used today to denote an educational institution. ... Lecturer is a term of academic rank. ... For university teachers, see professor. ... In the UK and elsewhere, a head teacher is the most senior teacher in a school. ...

Today he is considered one of the most important Welsh writers of the post-war period. His collections of stories, including Collected Stories, and poems, including Collected Poems, have won many prizes, among them the Cholmondeley Poetry Prize, the David Higham Memorial Prize, the Katherine Mansfield Memorial Award, the A.M.L. Award for poetry (in 1996) and the Welsh Arts Council Senior Fiction Award. Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ...

Biography

George Leslie Norris was born in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. His father George was a tall athletic man without school education because he had to fight in the First World War. He was a miner and died in a tunnel in Merthyr Tydfil. Nevertheless his son Leslie had a cheerful childhood. When he was nineteen years old he joined the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Merthyr Tydfil (Welsh: ) is a town and county borough in Wales, with a population of about 55,000. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... “RAF” redirects here. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

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 he started his career as a professional writer of poems and stories. Vernon Watkins (1906 – 1967) was a Welsh poet, and a painter. ...

In 1983 Norris was invited to teach for six months at Brigham Young University in 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. He contributed to the cultural life of Provo 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 Wordsworth's Prelude. Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... , Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah, is the flagship university of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon Church). ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Provo is a city in Utah and the county seat of Utah County, located about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... William Wordsworth (April 7, 1770 – April 23, 1850) was a major English romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their 1798 joint publication, Lyrical Ballads. ...

Literary work

Norris started writing poems at the age of seven years, but his career as a published author began in the 1940s, when his first collection Finding Gold was published. This article is about the art form. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In addition to poems and short stories, Norris has published translations. Neglected in his native country, he is a well known and popular author in the U.S. This article is in need of attention. ... Look up translate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

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 to be a fine technician. 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, so as to maintain the style.

Selected works

Poetry

• Tongue of Beauty (1942)
• Poems (1946)
• The Loud Winter (1967)
• Ransoms (1970)

Poetry for children

• Merlin and the Snake's egg (1978)

Criticism

• Glyn Jones (1973) (Writers of Wales Series)

Short stories

• Sliding (1978)

Translation

• The sonnets to Orpheus (1989) in cooperation with Alan Keele

Prize-winning books

• The Girl from Cardigan (1988), awarded by the Welsh Arts Council

Print references

• Eugene England (ed.): An open world: Essays on Leslie Norris, Camden House, Columbia, SC, 1994

• James A. Davies: Leslie Norris, University of Wales Press, Cardiff 1991
• Dictionary of literary biography
• Chapter 5 on Leslie Norris, of "Wordsworth's Influence On 20th Century Welsh Poets", unpublished dissertation by James Prothero in the National Library of Wales and University of Wales, Lampeter library. This includes two letters and two long interviews with Norris which may have been some of the last interviews with him.

External links

• Wells College Press profile: Leslie Norris Captured December 2, 2005.
• CREW Welsh Writers Online: Leslie Norris Captured December 2, 2005.
• 'An astonishing life' — Poet Leslie Norris Article on deseretnews.com. Captured December 2, 2005.