Nell Dunn

Standard Name: Dunn, Nell
Birth Name: Nell Mary Dunn
ND became known in the mid-twentieth century for her documentary-style fiction about the lives of working-class women in London. Her ear for dialogue (the rhythms of working-class speech in particular) and her forthright treatment of women's sexuality are features of her writing. From sketches and novels she moved quickly into interviewing and plays and monologues. Her early work formed part of an investigative naturalistic cultural movement which focused on working-class life. It was associated by some with the so-called angry young men school, a group which was disowned by most of those whom the media associated with it. ND , however, continued to find new uses for social realism and reportage after the end of the 1960s and 70s.

Connections

Connections Author name Excerpt
Intertextuality and Influence Caryl Churchill
The play explores women's quest for success in patriarchal society, and the expense at which this success is achieved, particularly in relation to motherhood. It has been considered as a kind of answer to Nell Dunn
Intertextuality and Influence Ali Smith
Into this family scene enters Scottish stranger Amber Macdonald, whom the reader has previously encountered in the novel's prefatory disembodied voice recounting her conception at the former Alhambra theatre in Glasgow. This occurred during...
politics Margaret Drabble
She also remembered the rise of feminism: the books by Doris Lessing , Sylvia Plath , Nell Dunn , and Edna O'Brienthat would irreversibly affect women's destiny, and the pioneering of feminist journalism by Mary Stott .
Drabble, Margaret. “1960s”. The Guardian, 26 May 2007, pp. Weekend 25 - 31.
28
politics Ann Quin
When AQ was in her late teens or early twenties, she joined a Conservative youth group. However, this seems to have been a youthful whim or a social ploy, as she did not display any...
Textual Features Ali Smith
The volume features 101 different women writers, each publication emblematic of the year for which its author is featured. Its contents range from the title-inspiring Miles Franklin 's My Brilliant Career (1901) through Edith Wharton

Timeline

16 December 1966: The BBC screened its famous Wednesday play...

Building item

16 December 1966

The BBC screened its famous Wednesday playCathy Come Home, a drama about a homeless family written by Jeremy Sandford (husband of Nell Dunn ), produced by Tony Garnett , and directed by Ken Loach .
Gilbey, Ryan. “Putting the Manifesto before the Movie”. London Review of Books, 31 Oct. 2002, pp. 34-5.
35
Cathy Come Home. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/cathycomeho/cathycomeho.htm.

Texts

Dunn, Nell. Cancer Tales. Amber Lane Press, 2002.
Dunn, Nell, and Susan Campbell. Freddy Gets Married. MacGibbon and Kee, 1968.
Dunn, Nell, editor. Grandmothers. Chatto and Windus, 1991.
Dunn, Nell, and Adrian Henri. I Want. Jonathan Cape, 1972.
Drabble, Margaret, and Nell Dunn. “Introduction”. Poor Cow, Virago, 1988, p. xi - xvi.
Dunn, Nell, editor. Living Like I Do. Futura Publications, 1977.
Dunn, Nell. My Silver Shoes. Bloomsbury, 1996.
Dunn, Nell. Poor Cow. MacGibbon and Kee, 1967.
Dunn, Nell. Poor Cow. Bloomsbury, 1996.
Dunn, Nell. Steaming. Amber Lane Press, 1981.
Dunn, Nell, editor. Talking to Women. MacGibbon and Kee, 1965.
Dunn, Nell. Tear his Head off his Shoulders. Jonathan Cape, 1974.
Dunn, Nell. The Incurable. Cape, 1971.
Dunn, Nell. The Only Child. Jonathan Cape, 1978.
Dunn, Nell, and Susan, artist Benson. Up the Junction. MacGibbon and Kee, 1963.