Henry Normal

Henry is a writer, poet, TV & Film producer, founder of the Manchester Poetry Festival (now the Literature festival) and co-founder of the Nottingham Poetry Festival.

In June 2017 he was honoured with a special BAFTA for services to Television.

He co-wrote and script edited the multi-award winning Mrs Merton show and the spin off series Mrs Merton and Malcolm. He also co-created and co-wrote the first series of The Royle Family.

With Steve Coogan he co-wrote the BAFTA winning Paul and Pauline Calf Video Diaries, Coogan’s Run, Tony Ferrino, Doctor Terrible and all three of Steve’s live tours and the film The Parole Officer.

Setting up Baby Cow Productions Ltd in 1990, Henry Executive Produced all and script edited many of the shows of it’s 17 and a half year output during his tenure as MD. Highlights of the Baby Cow output during his time include the Oscar nominated film Philomena, I believe in Miracles, Gavin and Stacey, Moone Boy, Uncle, Marion and Geof, Nighty Night, The Mighty Boosh, Red Dwarf, Hunderby,
Camping and Alan Partridge.

Since retiring in April 2016, Henry has written and performed 11 BBC Radio 4 shows combining comedy, poetry and stories about family.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0026967

The most recent  “A Normal Journey” was broadcast frequently in 2024 on Radio 4 and 4X

He was featured on BBC Radio 4s “The Verb” in early January 2025

He is special Guest To John Cooper Clarke at a celebration of World Poetry day at Nottingham Royal Concert Hall in late March 2025

Born in St Anne’s, Nottingham in 1956, Henry now lives in Fairlight, Nr Hastings with his wife and screenwriter Angela
Pell and their son Johnny.

In April 2018, Two Roads publishers released his book of memoirs ‘A Normal Family’ which was written with his wife Angela Pell, drawing on his family experience. It immediately became a best seller on Amazon and has already been reprinted. The paperback was released on 21st March 2019.

Henry performs poetry at Literature Festivals around the UK and has thirteen poetry books available from Flapjack. Most recent are ‘Collected Poems Volume 3’ which was released in 2023 and ‘A Moonless Night ‘ in 2024.

He was recently given an honorary doctorate of letters by Nottingham Trent University, another by Nottingham University and has a beer and a bus named after him in Nottingham!

Henry’s upcoming book “Meanwhile” will be released on 1st May 2025

Quotes:

“Succinct, heartrending and peppered with gentle punchlines’ Hannah Verdier, The Guardian
“Shove up National Treasures. We need to make room for Henry Normal” Simon O’Hagan – Radio Times
‘the Alan Bennett of poetry’ The Scotsman
‘Dovetails bittersweet poetry with a sublimely observant wit’ The Guardian
‘A mixture of the absurd and downright wacky…a gentle giant of stand-up poetry’ The List
‘The poetry itself is stuff of proper substance, marrying the suburban beauty of Beatles ballads with the blunt candour
of the kitchen sink’ The Guardian
“Witty and uncannily accurate with his observations” – The Stage
“Distinctly funny” – Time Out
It’s a rare and lovely thing: half an hour of radio that stops you short, gently demands your attention and then wipes
your tears away while you have to have a little sit down – The Guardian
“It’s a real treat to hear a seasoned professional like Henry taking command of this evening comedy spot to deliver a
show that’s idiosyncratic and effortlessly funny”
“Not heard anything that jumps from hilarious to moving in such an intelligent, subtle way as Henry Normal’s show” – Radio Times