Adelle Stripe
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Adelle Stripe (born 1976) is an English writer and journalist.


Work

Stripe's writing is rooted in the
non-fiction novel The non-fiction novel is a literary genre that, broadly speaking, depicts non-fictional elements, such as real historical figures and actual events, woven together with fictitious conversations and uses the storytelling techniques of fiction. The ...
form and explores
working-class culture Working-class culture or proletarian culture is a range of cultures created by or popular among working-class people. The cultures can be contrasted with high culture and folk culture, and are often equated with popular culture and low culture (t ...
, untold histories of Northern England, popular music, and small-town life. ''Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile'', her debut novel, was based on the life and work of
Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
playwright
Andrea Dunbar Andrea Dunbar (22 May 1961 – 20 December 1990) was an English playwright. She wrote ''The Arbor'' (1980) and ''Rita, Sue and Bob Too'' (1982), an autobiographical drama about the sexual adventures of teenage girls living in a run-down part of ...
. A theatrical adaptation by Bradford's Freedom Studios and screenwriter Lisa Holdsworth toured across Yorkshire to critical acclaim. A new edition of the book was reissued by
Virago A virago is a woman who demonstrates abundant masculine virtues. The word comes from the Latin word ''virāgō'' (genitive virāginis) meaning "vigorous maiden" from ''vir'' meaning "man" or "man-like" (cf. virile and virtue) to which the suffi ...
in 2025. ''Ten Thousand Apologies'' (2022) is her collaborative biography of cult UK band
Fat White Family Fat White Family are an English rock band, formed in 2011 in Peckham, South London. Frontman Lias Saoudi has remained the project's sole constant member across multiple line-up changes. The band's current line-up also includes Adam J Harmer ...
, co-written with singer Lias Saoudi, that traces the group's origins from working-class
Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
to Algeria, via sectarian Northern Ireland and the squats of south London. Her most recent work, ''Base Notes: The Scents of a Life'', is an olfactory memoir of working-class womanhood and complex family ties, told through a prism of 20th century perfumes. In 2006, alongside
Tony O'Neill Tony O'Neill (born in 1978, Blackburn, Lancashire) is an English writer based in New York. A one-time musician with Kenickie (1997–98), Marc Almond (1997–98), The Brian Jonestown Massacre (1999), and Kelli Ali (2001–04), O'Neill has wri ...
and Ben Myers she formed possibly the first literary movement spawned via a social networking site, the
Brutalists Brutalism is a literary movement formed in 2006 by three writers from the north of England ( Tony O'Neill, Adelle Stripe and Ben Myers). The Brutalists are affiliated with the Offbeat generation, a loose association of like-minded writers wo ...
. She published three chapbook collections of poetry with Blackheath Books, including ''Dark Corners of Land.'' ''The Humber Star,'' her poem based on the experiences of her ancestors in 19th century Hessle Road, was performed at John Grant's North Atlantic Flux, for
Hull UK City of Culture 2017 Hull UK City of Culture 2017 was a designation given to the city of Kingston upon Hull, England, between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2020 by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The designation meant that Hull gained ac ...
. As a journalist, Stripe has written features on theatre, film, literature and music for
The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...
,
Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire, although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...
and New Statesman. Her spoken word has appeared on recordings by Smagghe & Cross and the Eccentronic Research Council.


Reception

In 2017, writing in The Spectator, Andy Miller noted that Stripe's portrayal of Andrea Dunbar in ''Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile'' ‘mixes fiction and biography in a manner that brings to mind the work of the late Gordon Burn. ..The author's voice and Dunbar's mingle to create not just a portrait of an artist — funny, mischievous, reckless and truthful — but also divisions of class, geography and opportunity which continue to shape this country.’ '' The Stage'' commented that 'Dunbar does not emerge from Stripe's fictionalisation as a victim, but as a clever, unhappy woman who deserved better.' Wendy Erskine, who reviewed ''Ten Thousand Apologies'' in the ''Irish Times'', said that Stripe ‘is a master at giving real-life novelistic momentum and shape without anything seeming forced or schematic, and she brings sharp perspicacity to every scene.’ Writing in the ''Observer'',
Miranda Sawyer Miranda Caroline Sawyer (born 7 January 1967) is an English author, journalist and broadcaster. Education and early life Sawyer was born in Bristol and grew up in Wilmslow, Cheshire with her brother Toby, who is an actor. Sawyer was educated ...
described her account of Fat White Family as a 'bleak, funny and compelling biography. ..Stripe is known for her imaginative novel/biography of Andrea Dunbar, and this book, too, though it reads pretty close to the truth, emphasises that “fact has been used to create fiction” and that people remember events differently. The difference here is Stripe is writing with, as well as about, her subject.' Of ''Base Notes: The Scents of a Life'', ''The Telegraph'' commented that the book 'is a story of family in all its fractures and complexities: the relationships between parents, children, siblings and spouses; how we attempt to both escape and accept ourselves with varying degress of success. Its symphonic olfactory narration has a sharpness and depth of recollection which remains as vivid as their first experiencing.' Writing in the ''Guardian'', Fiona Sturges noted that 'Bleakness and humour go hand in hand... This is a book that, rather than opting for blow-by-blow autobiography, provides candid and compelling snapshots of a life, much of which is spent in survival mode.'


Honours

Stripe was shortlisted for the Portico Prize for Literature and the Gordon Burn Prize for her novel ''Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile''. ''Ten Thousand Apologies'' was nominated for the Penderyn Music Book Prize in 2023. Her PhD thesis on Andrea Dunbar, non-fiction novels and contemporary northern literature was awarded by the
University of Huddersfield The University of Huddersfield is a public research university located in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It has been a University since 1992, but has its origins in a series of institutions dating back to the 19th century. It has made te ...
. She is an
Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993) who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, dy ...
Fellow at Manchester University's Centre for New Writing.


Personal life

Stripe grew up in
Tadcaster Tadcaster is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, north-east of Leeds and south-west of York. Its historical importance from Roman times onward was largely as the lowest road crossing-point o ...
,
North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
, and attended Tadcaster Grammar School. She lives in
Calderdale Calderdale () is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the ...
and is married to the author Ben Myers.


Bibliography


Non-fiction

* ''Base Notes: The Scents of a Life''. White Rabbit, 2025. * ''Ten Thousand Apologies: Fat White Family and the Miracle of Failure''. White Rabbit, 2022. * ''Stay Alive Till '75''. Ration Books, 2021.


Fiction

* ''Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile''. Virago, 2025. * ''Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile''. Wrecking Ball Press, 2017. ISBN 9781903110560 * ''Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile''. Fleet, 2017. ISBN 9780708898956


Short stories

* A Place Called Bliss, ''Flashback: Parties For the People By the People'', ed. Jamie Holman and Alex Zawadzki, Rough Trade Books, 2021. ISBN 9781914236136 * The Beautiful Game, AMBIT Issue 243, 2021. * Driftwood, ''Common People: An Anthology of Working Class Writers'', ed. Kit de Waal, Unbound, 2019. ISBN 9781783527458 * Eight Days Left, The Manchester Review, 2018.


Drama

* ''Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile''. Adaptation by Lisa Holdsworth. Methuen Drama, 2019. ISBN 9781350135925


Poetry

* ''Dark Corners of the Land''. Blackheath Books, 2012.


Essays and journalism

*Old School, Baby. ''I Am Weekender''. British Film Institute, 2023. *A Cold Day in July, New Postscripts, BBC Canvas, 2023. *New Faces in Hell, ''Excavate: The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall''. Faber & Faber, 2021. ISBN 9780571358335 *''Sweating Tears with Fat White Family''. Rough Trade Books, 2019. ISBN 9781912722358


Edited works, introductions and forewords

* ''Alma Cogan Gordon Burn''. Faber & Faber, 2019. ISBN 9780571347285 *''Sweet is the Taste of Tears
Yosano Akiko , known by her pen name Yosano Akiko (Shinjitai: , Kyūjitai: , ), was a Japanese author, poet, feminist, pacifist, and social reformer, active in the late Meiji era as well as the Taishō era, Taishō and early Shōwa eras of Japan. She is one ...
''. Tangerine Press, 2014.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stripe, Adelle Living people 1976 births English women poets English bloggers People from Tadcaster English women bloggers British women anthologists Writers from York Alumni of the University of Greenwich Alumni of the University of Manchester 21st-century English women Alumni of the University of Huddersfield