Clayton Littlewood (born in 1963 in

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 21,128 as of 2021 ...

) is the author of the book/play ''Dirty White Boy: Tales of Soho'' and the sequel, ''Goodbye to Soho'' (May 2012).

Life

Raised in

Weston-Super-Mare Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...

, Littlewood attended Walliscote Primary School and Broadoak Comprehensive moving to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

when he was nineteen. On arriving at London, he formed a band with his friend Rob Brown called Spongefinger. The band recorded an album's worth of material and released a single called ''I Love to be Queer''. The single was reviewed in the gay press and played in the clubs but failed to chart. Clayton then went back to university and completed a B.S.C. Hons degree in Cultural Studies and an M.A. in Film and Television. In July 1997 Littlewood went to New York to try and meet

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over eight decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...

(who was appearing in Victor, Victoria) and give her a song he'd written called ''Last Night I Dreamt I was Julie Andrews''. By the time he got there, she had already left the production. Clayton then telephoned

Quentin Crisp Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt; – ) was an English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of h ...

and spent the day with him (Littlewood describes this meeting in his latest book ''Goodbye to Soho''). In 1998 Clayton hosted a pirate radio station in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

posing as a 75-year-old

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

female

aromatherapist Aromatherapy is a practice based on the use of aromatic materials, including essential oils and other aroma compounds, with claims for improving psychological well-being. It is used as a complementary therapy or as a form of alternative medici ...

by the name of Dr. Bunty. In 1999 Littlewood wrote a six-episode comedy series with Joe Pearson called ''Roots''. It was rejected by a number of agents and broadcasters including the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

who wrote, "This is the most disgusting piece of filth we have ever read. Do not contact us again." Clayton met his partner Jorge Betancourt in

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a Neighborhoods of Miami Beach, Florida, neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south ...

in March 2004. They got married in

Provincetown Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Pr ...

(at the top of the Provincetown Monument) on 28 October, 2005. Under the December, 2005 ruling of the UK's

Civil Partnership Act 2004 The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced by the Labour government, which grants civil partnerships in the United Kingdom the rights and responsibilities very similar to those in civil ...

Jorge was thus able to move to the UK (Jorge's move to London was one of the first cases that the

British Consulate This is a list of diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, excluding honorary consulates. The UK has one of the largest global networks of diplomatic missions. UK diplomatic missions to capitals of other Co ...

in New York had dealt with). Jorge died in July, 2015.

Dirty White Boy

Shop

In January 2006 Jorge closed down his high fashion menswear Provincetown shop, Dirty White Boy, and with Littlewood re-opened it on

Old Compton Street Old Compton Street is a road that runs east–west through Soho in the West End of London, named after Henry Compton (bishop), Henry Compton who raised funds for St Anne's Church, Soho, St Anne's Church in 1686. The area, particularly this str ...

in London's

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

. Clayton and Jorge lived below their Soho shop. In August 2006 Littlewood joined Myspace and started a diary/blog charting day-to-day

life. It quickly gained a cult following and in 2007, after a number of his stories had been published in

The London Paper ''The London Paper'' (stylised as ''thelondonpaper'') was a free daily newspaper, published by NI Free Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International (who also own the companies that publish ''The Sun'' and ''The Times''). It was available fr ...

, Clayton was given a weekly column called 'Soho Stories'. Between 2007 and 2008 Littlewood was invited to appear on

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the BBC Local Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London. It broadcasts on FM broadcasting, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Broadcasting House in Langham Plac ...

a number of times to read out his stories. However, on two occasions he and his friend, the actor

David Benson David Benson (born David Hodgson on 11 January 1962) is an English theatre actor, writer and comedian. He was born in Oxford, England, and has a twin sister, Miranda, and an older brother, Jonathan. Educated at Park Hall Secondary Modern in C ...

, were removed from the building for using language that the

found to be unacceptable.

Book

In January 2008 Clayton was approached by

Cleis Press Cleis Press is an American independent publisher of books in the areas of sexuality, erotica, feminism, gay and lesbian studies, gender studies, fiction, and human rights. The press was founded in 1980 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It later moved to ...

to turn his blog into a book. Clayton delivered his first reading in February 2008 at the LGBT History Month event called 'Between the Covers' (organised by the House of Homosexual Culture) where readers included Neil Bartlett and

Maureen Duffy Maureen Patricia Duffy (born 21 October 1933) is an English poet, playwright, novelist and non-fiction author. Long an activist covering such issues as gay rights and animal rights, she campaigns especially on behalf of authors. She has receive ...

. Clayton was joined on stage by

who provided the character voices while Clayton narrated. Due to the recession in June 2008 Dirty White Boy (the shop) was declared insolvent. ''Dirty White Boy: Tales of Soho'' was published in October 2008 and the book launch was held in

The Colony Room The Colony Room Club was a private members' drinking club at 41 Dean Street, Soho, London. It was founded and presided over by Muriel Belcher from its inception in 1948 until her death in 1979. The artist Francis Bacon was a founder and life ...

(one of the last events held there before it closed). Reviews compared the book to the diaries of

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

and

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

and to

Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...

's Berlin stories. It was named

Gay Times ''Gay Times'' (stylized in all caps), also known as ''GAY TIMES Magazine'' and as ''GT'', is a UK-based LGBTQ+ magazine established in 1984. Originally a magazine for gay and bisexual men, the company began including content for the LGBTQ+ comm ...

Book of the Year (2009) and was endorsed by celebrities such as

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

Holly Johnson William "Holly" Johnson (born 9 February 1960) is an English singer, songwriter and artist, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who achieved huge commercial success in the mid-1980s. Prior to that, in the late 1970s he ...

and

Sebastian Horsley Sebastian Horsley (born Marcus A. Horsley; 8 August 1962 – 17 June 2010) was an English artist and writer. Horsley's writing often revolved around his dysfunctional family, his flamboyant and eccentric behavior, his drug addictions, sex, and ...

. Interviewed in ''Polari Magazine'' Clayton said, "I've always written diaries. I've kept them for years, but just sporadically, during important moments. So, when we had the shop I thought, 'This is going to be an important moment'. I had a feeling we weren't going to be there very long, and I wanted to document the period. We were getting all these crazy people coming into the shop, all these mad characters, but I thought rather than just write it as a diary I would post it on MySpace. It was the first time that I'd shown anybody what I had written." In December 2008 Clayton appeared on stage at the Freedom Bar in

reading from ''Dirty White Boy: Tales of Soho'' alongside

Play

In April 2009 Clayton turned ''Dirty White Boy: Tales of Soho'' into a play. It premiered at the

Trafalgar Studios Trafalgar Theatre is a West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. The Grade II listed building was built in 1930 with interiors in the Art Deco style as the Whitehall Theatre; it regularly staged ...

in London's West End and starred Clayton,

and singer Maggie K de Monde, featuring music from Martin Watkins. It sold out. Interviewed in ''Whatsonstage'', Clayton said, "I was interested in writing about the real Sohoites. The street people. The pimps. The rent boys. The bag ladies. The hookers. The transsexuals. The old queens. All those on the outside I guess." The play returned a year later, again at the

, for an extended run. This time it featured Clayton, David and singer Alexis Gerred. The play was directed by

Phil Willmott Phil Willmott (born 26 January 1968) is a British director, playwright, arts journalist, teacher, and founder of London based theatre production company The Steam Industry. He was the Artistic Director of the Finborough Theatre in London's Ear ...

and received good reviews from

Nicholas de Jongh Nicholas de Jongh is a British writer, theatre critic and playwright. He served as the senior drama critic of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1991 to 2009. Prior to that, he had worked for ''The Guardian'' for almost 20 years. In 2008, de Jongh ...

(

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

) and

Paul Gambaccini Paul Matthew Gambaccini (born 2 April 1949) is an American-British radio and television presenter and author. He is a dual citizen of the United States and United Kingdom, having become a British citizen in 2005. Known as "The Great Gambo" and ...

Goodbye to Soho

On 10 May 2012 Clayton released a sequel to ''Dirty White Boy'' called ''Goodbye to Soho'' (DWB Press). The book launch was held at Madame Jojo's in Soho where Clayton read from the book, performed scenes from the play, and delivered a dedication to his friend Sebastian Horsley. Clayton was joined on stage by Roger Lloyd-Thompson, Maggie K de Monde and Martin Watkins (Maggie and Martin were launching their album, Union). Advanced Reviews 'Clayton's has been seduced by Soho's sleazy magic and through him so are we.' —

Marc Almond Peter Mark Almond (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist of the synth-pop/ new wave duo Soft Cell. He has a distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He has had a diverse career as a ...

'A frank, funny and moving read.'—GT Magazine 'Enchanting and addictive...earthy, scurrilous and never dull.'—West End Extra 'As scurrilous and entertaining as ever.' —Rupert Smith (''Man's World'') 'Like Isherwood's Berlin, Littlewood's Soho comes to life right off the page.' —Jonathan Kemp (''London Triptych'') 'Downright Dickensian...not simply a good writer but a great writer.' —Polari Magazine 'That dirty old whore Soho has no better pimp than Clayton Littlewood.' —

Tim Fountain Tim Fountain (born 23 December 1967) is a British writer. Early life Fountain was born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. An only child, he was brought up in a pub in the village of West Ardsley, West Yorkshire. He was educated at Batley Grammar ...

(''Resident Alien'') 'Beautifully composed vignettes...observed by a ravenous, compassionate, amused voyeur of the first rank.' —

(''Plague Over England'')

Reviews

Dirty White Boy (book)

"Touching, funny and poignant." – Sir

"Funny, perceptive, sexy, exquisitely observed." –

"A 21st Century

of the

subculture." –

"A collection of witty and piquant vignettes." –

(London) "Clayton Littlewood's book is tender, warm and full of humanity." –

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

(London) "His novel truly shines." –

(Book of the Year 2009) "Downright hysterical." – QX magazine (London) "As evocative in its own way as

's take on that other sin bin, the Berlin of the 1920s...probably the best book about one section of Soho life...a twenty first century love story to

." – The Soho Society "Soho is like an upturned dustbin and he like a drunk rummaging through it. He shows us that all that glitters is not gold. And all that smells is not garbage." –

, author of ''Dandy in the Underworld'' "It is because of Clayton's genuine interest in the people he writes about that ''Dirty White Boy'' is such a compelling read."- Polari Magazine "A sense of historic

(

Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he s ...

and

Verlaine Verlaine (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Verlaine had a total population of 3,507. The total area is 24.21 km2 which gives a population density Population density (in ag ...

) percolates through the book." – One80 magazine "Original anecdotes and real life stories told with a Hogarthian incisiveness." – ''West End Extra'' "Clayton Littlewood evokes the sights and smells of an historic gaybourhood."- Toronto Star (Canada) "Funny. Observant. Gives a sense of gay history without being preachy. Compulsively readable... like one of those historic diaries like

' or

's." – Gay NZ.com (New Zealand) "The queer descendent of

, Clayton Littlewood captures the day-to-day drama of his London in all its demented glory." – Michael Thomas Ford, author of ''Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me'' and ''Last Summer'' "''Dirty White Boy'' does for

in the digital age what

and

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, merchant and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translati ...

did for London in the 17th Century…their stories are what makes ''Dirty White Boy'' such a wonderful book." – AfterElton.com

Dirty White Boy (play)

"I really enjoyed ''Dirty White Boy''. I was by turns moved, much amused, charmed and affected." –

. The

"Everyone has a story to tell if only he can recognize and communicate it. Clayton has found his. He tells it with truth and humour." –

"Characters are brought to funny-poignant and vibrant life…I did have a fabulous time." – ''The British Theatre Guide'' "Genuine belly laughs." – ''What's on Stage'' "Great entertainment." – Film News.co.uk "Camp, rude and very funny!" – Remotegoat.co.uk "A world where a sense of humour is as vital as blood circulation." – Spoonfed.co.uk "The combination of a talented actor and a brilliant storyteller makes for the odd moment of theatrical gold." – Gaydarnation "There is something about Clayton that draws out the weird and wonderful. It's what makes ''Dirty White Boy'' so compelling." – ''Polari Magazine'' "Mr. Littlewood's writing shone so swiftly, fiercely, and emotionally that one laughed out loud while clutching an imaginary tissue for the kickback...This is not acting, it's breathtaking authenticity." – The Hospital Club

Bibliography

* ''Dirty White Boy: Tales of Soho'', Cleis Press, 2008 * ''Goodbye to Soho'', DWB Press, 2012

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Littlewood, Clayton 1963 births Living people English LGBTQ writers People from Skegness People from Weston-super-Mare 21st-century English LGBTQ people