Sid Chaplin (20 September 191611 January 1986) was an English writer whose works (

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

s, television

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

s, poetry and short stories) are mostly set in the north-east of England, in the 1940s and 1950s.

Biography

Chaplin was born into a Durham mining family and worked in the pits as a teenager. Between 1941 and 1953, he resided at Ferryhill,

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

and worked as a miner at Dean and Chapter Colliery at

Dean Bank Dean Bank is situated on the west incline of Ferryhill, County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremon ...

. In 1946, he won the Atlantic Award for Literature for his collection of short stories, ''The Leaping Lad''. After another stint as a miner, Chaplin began writing full-time for the National Coal Board magazine from 1950. He later wrote for '' The Guardian'', including theatre reviews, essays of social observation and, from 1963, his own column ''Northern Accent''. Chaplin's literary career pre-dated the so-called angry young men genre and has been credited as an influence on the late 1950s/early 1960s " kitchen sink" social realism of writers such as Alan Sillitoe and Stan Barstow. His novels '' The Day of the Sardine'' (1961) and ''The Watchers and the Watched'' (1962) have been cited as classics of "working class existentialism" and were reprinted by Flambard Press in 2004. In 1968, playwright Alan Plater based his play and musical production ''Close The Coalhouse Door'' on Chaplin's early writings, set to songs by Alex Glasgow. The musical was revived in 2012. In 1976, Chaplin contributed to the writing of the TV series '' When The Boat Comes In''. The following year he was awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for services to the arts in the North East. Chaplin died in 1986.Chronicle's 100 Greatest Geordies: No's 45 to 42
/ref> A posthumous anthology ''In Blackberry Time'' was published the following year. In 1997, the Chaplin family deposited the bulk o
Sid Chaplin's papers
a
Newcastle University's Robinson Library, Special Collections
His son is Michael Chaplin.

Selected bibliography

Novels

*''My Fate Cries Out'' (1949) *''The Thin Seam'' (1949, 1968) *''The Big Room'' (1960) *'' The Day of the Sardine'' (1961, 2004) *''The Watchers and the Watched'' (1962, 2004) *''Sam in the Morning'' (1965) *''The Mines of Alabaster'' (1971)

Short stories

*''The Leaping Lad'' (1946, 1970) *''On Christmas Day in the Morning'' (1978) *''The Bachelor Uncle and Other Stories'' (1980)

Misc

*''The Smell of Sunday Dinner'' (1971) ssays*''A Tree With Rosy Apples'' (1972) ssays*''In Blackberry Time'' (1987) nthology

References