Welcome

Christopher Nicholson was born in London in 1956 and lives in south-west England. His most recent novel, Winter, was published in the UK in 2014. His two earlier novels are The Fattest Man In America (2005) and The Elephant Keeper (2009), which was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and the Encore Award.

His latest book is a non-fiction work, Among the Summer Snows (2017). It's a meditation on life and loss, organised around a series of walks to the great beds of snow that survive deep into the summer in the Scottish mountains. It was shortlisted for the 2017 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature, and longlisted for the Highland Book Prize.

From reviews of Among the Summer Snows:

'strange, beautiful, eerie and unique...the best mountain book I've read in years.' Simon Ingram, Trail magazine, May 2018

'haunting, moving, silent, and profoundly beautiful.' Alex Roddie, The Great Outdoors

'deeply charming and highly appealing' Iain Cameron, Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal, 2018

'a wrong-footing marvel of a book...' David Robinson, Books from Scotland

'a glorious little book' Michael Kerr, Sunday Telegraph


From reviews of The Elephant Keeper:

'Intensely moving....an exceptional novel.' Boston Globe

'an extended meditation on human needs.... poignant, heartfelt.' St. Louis Post Dispatch

'an unforgettable picture of an elephant/human relationship.' BookPage

'gentle, profound and sweet-natured.' The Observer

'an absolute gem...' The Guardian


From reviews of Winter:

'a superfine, thistledown novel about a novelist, a place and about love and loss....' The Guardian

'elegiac, beautifully restrained...' The New York Times

'understated, tender...an entrancing piece of fiction...' The New Yorker

'an absolutely first-rate novel.' The New York Review of Books

'gorgeously, gorgeously written...' Minneapolis Star Tribune

'a wonderful novel...' David Lodge


News

8th August 2019 - a dramatisation of 'Among the Summer Snows' to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4, from 2.15 - 3.00 p.m. Entitled 'The Summer Snows', the play is written by Christopher Nicholson and Jonathan Smith, and directed by Bruce Young. The role of Nicholson himself is played by Robert Bathurst.


El cuidador de elefantes
October 22nd 2018 - The Elephant Keeper published in Spanish - El cuidador de elefantes - by gatopardo ediciones.


Thomas Hardy and the cream-coloured courser
November 22nd 2018 - Christopher's long essay on Thomas Hardy and the cream-coloured courser published in the London Review of Books, vol. 40, no. 22 www.lrb.co.uk