Christopher Nolan (author)

Did You Know?

• Nolan was posthumously awarded a degree by Trinity College Dublin in 2025.
• His secondary school, Mount Temple Comprehensive School, holds annual "Eye of the Clock Awards" for students.
• He was made a member of Aosdána in 1988.

Biography

Christopher Nolan was born to Joseph and Bernadette Nolan and grew up in Mullingar, Ireland. Asphyxiation at birth caused permanent impairment of his nerve-signalling system, a condition he said is now labelled dystonia, and he was born with cerebral palsy, able to move only his head and eyes. Initially believed to be intellectually disabled, his mother proved otherwise by bringing him to Dr. Ciaran Barry, a consultant of physical medicine and rheumatology at the Central Remedial Clinic, who noted the toddler anticipated his actions and informed his mother he was of sound mind. Nolan used a wheelchair due to the severity of the palsy. At age 10, Dr. Barry placed him on medication that relaxed him so he could use a pointer attached to his head to type. To write, he used a special computer and keyboard; his mother held his head in her cupped hands while he picked out each word with the forehead pointer. He communicated by moving his eyes using a signal system. His father read passages from James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, and D. H. Lawrence to stimulate his mind, and his mother strung up alphabet letters in the kitchen, maintaining conversation. His sister Yvonne sang songs and acted out skits. His mother stated he wrote extensively from age 11, producing poems, short stories, and two plays, many compiled for his first publication, the chapbook Dam-Burst of Dreams.

Writing

Nolan's autobiography Under the Eye of the Clock, published in 1987, won the Whitbread Award and was named Book of the Year. Though an autobiography, it is narrated by a fictional character, Joseph Meehan, detailing Nolan's life in third person. The book reveals the deep relationship between Nolan and his mother, called Nora, and shows how his parents engaged him in conversation and outdoor activities like hiking and riding. It was a best-seller in Britain and the United States. His writing style is often compared to James Joyce and Dylan Thomas, and critics note it omits articles and uses participle construction rather than relative clauses. Nolan wrote The Banyan Tree, published in 1999, from the perspective of a country woman, Minnie O'Brien, spanning 80 years of her life. The Philadelphia Inquirer appreciated his soaring language and lilting alliterative style, and The New York Times Book Review found it richly told. Dam-Burst of Dreams, published in 1981, provided critical acclaim comparing him to W. B. Yeats and James Joyce; some poems were written when he was 12. The collection's title emphasizes the overflow and release of his mental intellect, and the poems are heavy with alliteration and incorporate neologisms. Nolan discouraged inquiries about his literary influences, once writing that everything is an influence to a person trapped in a nightmare. His enthusiasm for literature was largely attributed to his father's nightly readings from Joyce's Ulysses and other works.

Pop culture

Rock band U2, whose members attended school with Nolan, wrote their song "Miracle Drug" about him. On R.E.M.'s 1988 album Green, the song "The Wrong Child" was inspired by Nolan's memoir Under the Eye of the Clock. Nolan declined an offer from a Los Angeles film producer interested in making his biography into a movie, responding that he would not sell his life story.