A (brief) history of Northern writing - in honour of Ey Up 4 deadline extension
Written by Edith Powell
The deadline for Ey Up 4 submissions has been extended and the incredible writing we receive every time is nothing less than brilliant.
Northern English writing has a broad and deep rooted history and when reading our submissions, it’s interesting to think about this legacy.
Northern writing has often been ignored by canonical Literary histories. Funnily enough, the medieval Scandinavian settlers in the North had a saying that translated to ‘netherward and northward lies the way to Hell’. Maybe this had something to do with it?
Whilst this brief and limited history (not written by a historian) goes into a rough guide of Northern Literature, Ben Myers sums up my preliminary disclaimers: ‘the north is no more a cohesive whole than the south is, and is instead a series of interlocking territories, some of which remain bafflingly, hugely overlooked and under-represented in literature.’ Along with projects like Ey Up, Written Off refuses to overlook writers in the North and hopefully this blog post will shed some light onto key influences. So here is the briefest and broadest of histories to get you excited about Ey Up 4!
THE MIDDLE AGES
Many people still think the North/South divide in literature began with industrialisation, yet there is plenty of evidence that points to its origins in the Medieval period. For a lot of the Middle Ages, the North was a liminal space where revolt after revolt took place. Whilst there was writing that contributed to English history as a whole, a sense of identity was forged by recognising the borders of Scotland and the South. Whilst this obsession with borders was prompted by the neglect or oppressive nature of Southern powers, it also led to (and still leads to) nationalist rhetoric.
In addition, a lot of people ignore the influences of the North in none other than Geoffery Chaucer. Yeah, that’s right, Chaucer travelled frequently to the North and set multiple of his Tales there. Joseph Taylor even thinks that Chaucer’s Tales explore the social negotiations of the North with the rest of England, trying to both assimilate with the wider nation and forge its own sense of identity.
1600-1800
Due to the economic growth in the North and an increase in literacy, Northern writing was really taking off. By the 1700s, the North East had one of the highest rates of people who could read and write.
Famous, metaphysical poet Andrew Marvell was a Yorkshire lad. He was also a politician and was close friends with John Milton.
Due to the industrial revolution in the mid 1700s, cities such as Manchester and Liverpool became almost mythical, creating pictures of factories, grime, and production in the minds of English folk.
Often, literature, art, and businesses were overlooked in Manchester thanks to this stereotype. Writers like Elizabeth Gaskell wrote stories of violence and deaths from factory fumes, many contemporary reviewers being able to see that she was clearly not from the North.
On the subject of violence, Percy Bysshe Shelley, one of (in my humble opinion) the best Romantic poets, wrote The Masque of Anarchy about the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester. The poem spans several pages and was written whilst Shelley was in Europe. It's got a lot of socialist implications and discusses how unjust the casualties of the massacre had been. The poem, in many ways, asks for a further upheaval to combat the horrors of that day.
1800-1900
The Bronte sisters played a hand in our cultural perception of the North. They were born and bred in Bradford, West Yorkshire and some of the most famous novels in English Literature such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, were written and set in Yorkshire. Emily Bronte sets her story in the Pennine Moors, a ‘blustery and turbulent’ space for dramatic, gothic, lusting themes.
20th CENTURY
Ted Hughes was born in the North and had an imperfect relationship with Sylvia Plath. Plath wrote poetry about the English moors when she moved there with Hughes. It was inspired by Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. A timeline of Northern identity, and appreciation of the pastoral and the social is evident when we take a look at literary tradition.
Another Northern tradition is socialist thought, exercised famously and beautifully by the famous J.B. Pritestly. As well as writing about his travels around the UK, Priestly wrote An Inspector Calls, the famously anti-capitalist play. The play is set in Brumley (in the North midlands so contentiously on the divide) and features Inspector Goole (played often with a heavy Northern twang) teaching the Burling family how their greed has exploited and killed a young woman called Eva Smith.
Another notable piece in this tradition was George Orwell’s A Road to Wigan Pier. The novel explores ‘middle class oblivion’ and economic and social disarray in the North. Researching the book, Orwell travelled to Sheffield, Barnsley and Wigan. The novel has a strong socialist rhetoric throughout, asking why, if socialism would objectively improve the standards of existence, would we not give it a go? If you want the same messages from Animal Farm in a distinctly Northern way, I strongly recommend this text.
Mentioned in a previous blog is one of my favourite poets, Philip Larkin. Whilst a wholly problematic man (racist, sexist, the lot) some of his poems shaped English Literature as we know it. His collection Whitsun Weddings was influenced by other Northern writers such as W H Auden and his time spent as the librarian for the University of Hull. Famously, when offered the poet laureate award and the chance to move to London and live it big, Larkin refused, for what would inspire his poetry other than the city of Hull? One of his most famous lines in ‘An Arundel Tomb’ is: ‘Our almost-instinct almost true: What will survive of us is love.’
Susan Hill strikes me as one of the most influential Gothic Northern writers, with her infamous novel The Woman in Black, producing films, series, plays and more. Scholars have explored this masterpiece in storytelling, dissecting themes of maternal rage, gender, and the supernatural.
2000-NOW
Coming up to the present day, Northern writers are more vocal than ever about their identities. Leeds-born playwright, Alan Bennett, has written about homosexuality in his play The History Boys.
Carol Ann Duffy, ex-poet laureate, teaches at Manchester Metropolitan University and has written about her queerness extensively.
Following Duffy was Simon Armitage, another Northern icon who has written a collection of essays called All Points North about, you guessed it, the North.
Looking to the wonderful people at Written Off, we have many Northern examples including J. Daniel West and their brilliant collection All the Rot, containing themes of queerness and growth.
Or how about Northern, witchy poet goodnightthesky and their collection New Fables for Transformation?
Candi Martin writes about their experience in poverty, growing up in the North in their collection Burnt Ice Cream.
For many more Northern writers and more, explore our writers page!
EY UP 4
If you want to make your mark and join this literary tradition of Northern excellence and honesty, submit to EY UP 4 by the 8th March! For all photography, poetry, or short stories by Northern writers are much appreciated and we would love to see what you can do.
email submissions@writtenoffpublishing.com to submit your work!
Submission Guidelines for Ey Up:
Ey Up 4 will be our fourth collection of Northern Writing and Photography. Writers are invited to submit up to three poems or up to three short stories, and/or up to three photographs for consideration.
Poems must be a maximum of 40 lines.
Short stories must not exceed 1000 words.
Photographs will be printed in monochrome, so please be mindful of this!
We also ask for:
A 50-word bio, written in third person, that tells us who you are (again, not a list of publications!)
Any social media links or websites you’d like to be included if you are successful.
Resources
The Northern Element in English Literature, William Craigie
Writing the North of England in the Middle Ages, Joseph Taylor
‘The Development of Literacy: Northern England, 1640-1750’ by R.A. Houston
The Cambridge Companion to George Orwell, Margery Sabin
‘The Supernatural and the Monstrous-Feminine in Susan Hill’s The Woman In Black’, O. Glebova