{{short description|British poet|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{for-multi|the British singer|Nick Drake |the American racing driver|Nick Drake (racing driver)}} {{use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} {{use British English|date=May 2024}} {{Wikiquote}}
'''Nick Drake''' (born 1961) is a British poet, playwright, screenwriter, librettist, and novelist.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/series/nextgenerationpoets |work=The Guardian |location=London |title=Next Generation Poets |access-date=20 May 2010 |url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090521221914/http://books.guardian.co.uk/nextgenerationpoets/0,,1231558,00.html | archive-date=21 May 2009 }}</ref><ref name=about>{{cite web | title=About | website=Nick Drake | date=22 December 2023 | url=https://www.nickdrakewriter.com/about/ | access-date=30 May 2024}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Nick Drake was born near London, England, in 1961.<ref name=cape2021>{{cite web | title=Nick Drake | website=Cape Farewell | date=10 September 2021 | url=https://www.capefarewell.com/nick-drake/ | access-date=30 May 2024}}</ref> His father was from Prague, Czechoslovakia, and his mother from Northampton.<ref name=about/>
He first went to school in Cookham, Berkshire, and then St Albans Grammar School. He attended Magdalene College, Cambridge.<ref name=about/>
==Career== Drake has been Literary Associate at the National Theatre, then Literary Manager at the Bush Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, and then Head of Development at Intermedia Films.<ref name=cape2021/>
He has also taught creative writing at the Arvon Foundation and Goldsmiths' College.<ref name=cape2021/>
Drake became a full-time freelance writer in 2002.<ref name=cape2021/>
===Writing=== His first published poetry collection was a pamphlet ''Chocolate and Salt'' (Mandeville Press 1990). It earned a Society of Authors/Eric Gregory Award. It was followed by ''The Man in the White Suit'' (Bloodaxe Books 1999) which won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. It included 'The Foley Artist' which won second prize in the Cardiff International Poetry Competition 1996. ''From the Word Go'' (2007) included a sonnet sequence in memory of his Czech father, and ‘Live Air’ <ref>{{Cite news |last=Drake |first=Nick |date=16 July 2006 |title=Nick Drake: You're Nicked |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/nick-drake-you-re-nicked-6095230.html |access-date=14 November 2024 |work=Independent}}</ref> about his name-sharing with the singer-songwriter Nick Drake. "The Farewell Glacier" published in 2012, was a book-length poem conceived in response to his participation in Cape Farewell's 2010 Arctic Expedition to Svalbard<ref name="cape2021" /> to witness and respond to climate change. The poems were recorded by United Visual Artists as the soundtrack for ''High Arctic'', an installation at the National Maritime Museum in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-07-14 |title=High Arctic |url=https://www.capefarewell.com/high-arctic/ |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=Cape Farewell |language=en-US}}</ref> <sup> </sup> Drake adapted the collection as a performance piece for COP 26, with Peter Mullan and original music by Emma Donald and Isbel Pendelbury. In 2024 Drake further adapted and extended the collection as a BBC Radio 3 drama of the same name. Starring Adjoa Andoh and Peter Mullan, it included testimony from Inuit activist Siila Watt-Cloutier. ''Out of Range'' (Bloodaxe, 2018) continued his exploration of the “signs, wonders and alarms” of the early 21st century. His poems include [https://www.nickdrakewriter.com/poetry/the-future/ “The Future”] recorded by Andrew Scott for Culture Declares Emergency and ''Letters to the Earth'', "From The Song Dynasty"<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 April 2011 |title=Poems for a wedding |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/apr/23/wedding-carol-ann-duffy-poetry |website=The Guardian}}</ref> and "Static".<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 June 2004 |title=Static by Nick Drake |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/jun/05/nextgenerationpoets.poetry2 |website=The Guardian}}</ref>
His screenwriting credits include ''One Life'' (2023), co-written with Lucinda Coxon, starring Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Flynn, adapted from ''If It's Not Impossible'', the biography of Sir Nicholas Winton by his daughter Barbara Winton. He wrote the screenplay for the Australian film based on philosopher Raimond Gaita's autobiography, ''Romulus, My Father'', which starred Eric Bana as Gaita's father<ref name="cape2021" /> and Kodi Smit-McFee as the young Gaita. It won Best Film at the AFI Awards and was shortlisted for Best Adapted Screenplay. He adapted the first part of ''Making Noise Quietly'' from Robert Holman's play for Dominic Dromgoole's 2019 film.<ref>{{Citation |last=Dromgoole |first=Dominic |title=Making Noise Quietly |date=2019-07-19 |type=Drama |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6268222/ |access-date=2024-11-11 |others=Matthew Tennyson, Luke Thompson, Barbara Marten |publisher=Open Palm Films}}</ref>
Drake has written for the stage. His "choral play", ''All the Angels'', about the first performance of Handel's ''Messiah'' in Dublin, ran at the Sam Wanamaker Theatre<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wicker |first1=Tom |date=9 December 2016 |title=All the Angels: Handel and the First Messiah |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/all-the-angels-handel-and-the-first-messiah-review-at-sam-wanamaker-playhouse--beautifully-performed |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161210162516/https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2016/all-the-angels-handel-and-the-first-messiah-review-at/ |url-status=live |archive-date=10 December 2016 |journal=The Stage}}</ref> in 2015 and 2016, and was revived at Smock Alley Theatre Dublin in 2021 by Rough Magic. The text was published by Faber and Faber in 2016. Other stage plays include ''Angel'' (Salisbury Playhouse/Bristol Old Vic), an adaptation of Lope de Vega's Peribanez at Cambridge Arts Theatre (1999), ''Success'' (National Theatre Connections 2009), ''To Reach the Clouds'' adapted Philippe Petit's 2002 memoir of his high wire walk between the Twin Towers for Nottingham Playhouse in 2006.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hickling |first=Alfred |date=2006-06-24 |title=To Reach the Clouds |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/jun/24/theatre |access-date=2024-11-11 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
He has written the libretti for two operas created with composer Tansy Davies: ''Between Worlds'' (2015) for English National Opera, directed by Deborah Warner at the Barbican (the libretto was published by Faber), and ''Cave'' (2018), directed by Lucy Bailey for London Sinfonietta, with Mark Padmore and Elaine Mitchener.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CAVE |url=https://londonsinfonietta.org.uk/cave |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=London Sinfonietta |language=en}}</ref>
He has collaborated with composer Rachel Portman on ''Earth Song'' (2019) commissioned by BBC Radio 3, including quotations from Greta Thunberg, and ''Tipping Points'' (2023) with violinist Niklas Liepe, a work of six poems on the climate emergency and six corresponding musical movements.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rachel Portman - Rachel Portman: Tipping Points, Vivaldi/Kerschek: The New Four Seasons {{!}} CD |url=https://www.sonyclassical.com/releases/releases-details/rachel-portman-tipping-points-vivaldi-kerschek-the-new-four-seasons |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=www.sonyclassical.com |language=en}}</ref>
== Work ==
=== Rahotep novels === #''Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead'' 2007 #''Tutankhamun: The Book of Shadows'' 2010 #''Egypt: The Book of Chaos'' 2011
=== Poetry collections === *''The Man in the White Suit'' 1999 *''From the Word Go'' 2007 *''The Farewell Glacier'' 2012 *''Out of Range'' 2018 *''Chocolate and Salt'' 1990
=== Film and TV ===
* ''Romulus My Father'' * ''Making Noise Quietly'' * ''One Life''
=== Stage Plays ===
* ''All The Angels'' * ''Success'' * ''To Walk the Clouds'' * ''Stasiland'' * New version of Lope de Vega's ''Peribanez and the Comendador of Ocana''
=== Opera Libretti ===
* Tansy Davies ''Between Worlds'' * Tansy Davies ''Cave''
=== Words for Music ===
* Rachel Portman ''Earth Song'' * Rachel Portman ''Tipping Points'' * Tansy Davies ''The Ice Core Sample Says'' * Tansy Davies ''This Love'' * Tansy Davies ''Static''
=== Radio ===
* ''The Farewell Glacier'' * ''Angel / Mr Sweet Talk''
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.nickdrakewriter.com/about/ Nick Drake website] * [http://lidiavianu.scriptmania.com/nick_drake.htm "Interview with Nick Drake", ''Lidia Vianu'', Desperado Essay-Interviews, Editura Universitatii din Bucuresti, 2006] * [https://metro.co.uk/2021/10/25/cop26-poet-who-explored-arctic-to-warn-of-vanishing-paradise-of-ice-15485056/ Playwright who explored Arctic to warn of vanishing ‘paradise of ice’ at COP26]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Nick}} Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:British poets Category:Poets from London Category:British male poets Category:Mystery writers Category:Crime fiction writers Category:Writers of historical mysteries Category:Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge