Barbara Nichol (born c. 1956) is a Canadian writer and documentary maker.

Personal life and education

Nichol was born in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, the daughter of

John Lang Nichol John Lang Nichol, (January 7, 1924 – February 24, 2020) was a Canadian politician who served as a senator from 1966 to 1973. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he was president of the Liberal Federation of Canada for two terms from 1964 unt ...

and Elizabeth Fellowes, founder of the Equinox Gallery. She was educated at Westcot Elementary School and

Crofton House School Crofton House School, in the neighbourhood of Kerrisdale in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is a private university-preparatory school for girls that is tied for first place in the Fraser Institute's rankings of schools in British Columbia. ...

in Vancouver, at Elmwood School in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, The Branson School in

Ross, California Ross is a small List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, just north of San Francisco. Ross is located west-southwest of San Rafael, California, San Rafael, at ...

and

St Clare's, Oxford St Clare's is a coeducational private, international day and boarding college in North Oxford, England. St Clare's is an IB World School, offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma and a Preparatory IB programme, as well as English Langua ...

. She attended the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

and the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

but did not graduate from either. Her sisters are Marjorie Nichol, a radio producer and journalist, most recently the executive producer of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's "Sunday Edition", and

Sarah Milroy Sarah Milroy (born 1957) is the executive director and chief curator of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario, responsible for the 2021 exhibition and editor of the book ''Uninvited: Canadian women artists in the modern mom ...

, a critic and writer on the visual arts, now the Director of the

McMichael Canadian Art Collection The McMichael Canadian Art Collection (MCAC) is an art museum in Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located on a property in Kleinburg, an unincorporated village in Vaughan. The property includes the museum's main building, a sculpture gar ...

Career

Nichol has written and produced over 25 radio documentaries for the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

and has written comedy and humour for radio, magazines and television. She wrote scripts for the Canadian version of

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

from 1985 to 1994 and worked as a script editor on the international edition of the show. Nichol was a founding editor of the Canadian magazine ''

The Walrus ''The Walrus'' is an independent, nonprofit Canadian media organization. It is multi-platform and produces an eight-issue-per-year magazine and online editorial content that includes current affairs, fiction, poetry, and podcasts, a nation ...

''. Nichol wrote the book and lyrics (music by Tom Bellman) for the Canadian musical "The Sparrow Songs: A Country Song String," which was featured at The Summerworks Festival in August 2011, ran at Hugh's Room in Toronto and the Festival of Ideas and Creation at Canadian Stage in 2012. She has received a Canadian Juno award, for her original, multi platinum recording of ''

Beethoven Lives Upstairs ''Beethoven Lives Upstairs'' is a 1992 HBO Original Film produced and directed by David Devine. Based on a very popular children's audio recording written and directed by Barbara Nichol, the film stars Illya Woloshyn as Christoph, a young boy ...

'', a Canal + award for ''The Home For Blind Women'', has been a Governor General's Award finalist for her children's book ''Dippers'' and won the Mr. Christie Prize for ''Biscuits in The Cupboard'', a book of verse. She was nominated for a Juno Award as well for producing and directing the children's play series "A Story For A Child." The series was released as a recording by BMI. She received an Emmy nomination for her Sesame Street special "Basil Hears a Noise."

Awards and honours

Publications

* ''

'', illustrated by Scott Cameron (1989) * ''Biscuits in the Cupboard'', illustrated by

Philippe Béha Philippe Béha (born 1950) is a French Canadian children's book writer and illustrator living in Quebec. He was born in Casablanca to french parents, studied at the and came to Quebec in 1976. He worked as a freelance visual designer for Radio- ...

(1997) (Verse) * ''Dippers'', illustrated by

Barry Moser Barry Moser (born 1940) is an American visual artist and educator, known as a printmaker specializing in wood engravings, and an illustrator of numerous works of literature. He is also the owner and operator of the Pennyroyal Press, an engraving a ...

(1997) * ''One Small Garden'' (2001) * ''Trunks All Aboard: An Elephant ABC'', illustrated by W. Cornelius Van Horne (2001) * ''Safe and Sound'', illustrated by Anja Reichel (2003) * ''Tales Of Don Quixote'' (an adaptation for children) (2004) * ''Tales of Don Quixote, Book II'' (an adaptation for children) (2006) * ''The Lady from Kent: A Story for Girls and Boys and Bees Dressed Up As Fleas and Crocodiles. Also Elves'', illustrated by Bill Pechet, edited by Beth Follett (2018)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nichol, Barbara Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian women children's writers Canadian women screenwriters Writers from Vancouver Screenwriters from British Columbia