James Nash

When I lived in Leeds I used to go round to James Nash’s house every now and then. I would sit in his kitchen putting the world to rights and he would calmly empathise, punctuating my diatribes with sage words of advice. That Nash would have so much wisdom to offer is no surprise, given his career (and life) trajectory.

He jacked in his illustrious career as an English teacher to follow his heart and become a fulltime writer, beavering away in his heated garden shed and making appearances at literary festivals all over the country. His book ‘Coma Songs’ was published in 2006 and is a collection of the sort of poetry that makes you want go and hug a stranger- poignant, darkly humourous and oozing humanity.

Nash turned 60 this year and his energy shows no signs of waning. He is currently putting the finishing touches to his new novel, as well as running his various workshops and events.

I caught up with him recently at his home in Leeds to ask him about his personal approach to creativity. If his answer about the ‘3am fear’ (see below) doesn’t resonate with the creative types among you I will eat my shoes.

You left a successful career in teaching to become a writer. What was the turning point for you?

I left a career in teaching at a point in my life when everything else in it had changed. A marriage had recently come to an end and I was determined to be who I really was in terms of my sexuality, and live my life as a gay man. I also felt that at knocking 50 I really ought to get down to the writing I had somehow always thought I had to do, or would do, or there’d be no time left.

My freshly found honesty with the world and to myself [I had always known but never said loudly to myself that I was gay] meant that my new poetry got beyond the bland and started dealing with real issues. I was looking for honesty in that, too. This did not necessarily mean that my poems therefore necessarily autobiographical, but more of that later.

Were you scared?

God yes, but I had a group of close friends who were very supportive, though some of them oddly felt my loss of status [deputy headteacher of a big inner-city comprehensive] more than I did. I kept asking myself what I thought I was doing, but actually in terms of my mental and emotional health I had no choice. It wasn’t brave, it was what I HAD to do.

How's the new book coming along?

The new book is coming along well, though interrupted in the best possible way by three new poetry commissions, and fun work in schools and libraries.