Nell Dunn 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. Nell Dunn, however, continued to find new uses for social realism and reportage after the end of the 1960s and 70s.
Milestones
9 June 1936 ND was born in
London, the younger by a year of two sisters.
After 1959 ND began her investigative journalism, publishing documentary-style stories in the
New Statesman.
By 21 November 1963 ND published her first novel,
Up the Junction, with line-drawings by Susan Benson.
1965 ND adapted her own fiction volume
Up the Junction for television (the
BBC's
Wednesday Play series) under the directorship of
Ken Loach.
By 26 April 1967 ND published her very successful second novel
Poor Cow, titled from a word which is a sexual slur.
Later 1967 ND's
Poor Cow, like her previous novel, was adapted first for television and then as a film by director
Ken Loach, with her own screenplay.
