Adelle Stripe was born in York, UK, in 1976 and lives in Calderdale, West Yorkshire.

 

Her writing is rooted in the nonfiction novel form and explores working-class culture, untold histories of Northern England, popular music, and smalltown life.

 

Adelle’s debut novel, Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile (Fleet, 2017) was a fictionalised biography of the Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar. The book was shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and Portico Prize for Literature. It was adapted for stage by Lisa Holdsworth and Freedom Studios. 

 

Ten Thousand Apologies: Fat White Family and the Miracle of Failure (White Rabbit, 2022) was shortlisted for the Penderyn Music Book Prize. Co-written with lead singer Lias Saoudi, the biography charts the rise, fall and eventual salvage of one of the UK’s most controversial bands. It was a Rough Trade book of the year and a Sunday Times bestseller.  

 

Three of her poetry chapbooks were published by Blackheath Books from 2007-2012. The Humber Star, a poem based on the experiences of her seafaring ancestors in 19th century Hessle Road, was performed at John Grant's North Atlantic Flux for Hull City of Culture. 

 

Adelle’s spoken word has appeared on recordings by Smagghe & Cross and the Eccentronic Research Council. In 2023 she recorded a New Postscripts audio essay based on J.B. Priestley’s classic wartime broadcasts as part of the BBC's centenary celebrations.

 

As an arts journalist, she has contributed to The Quietus, Yorkshire Post, Record Collector, The i, New Statesman, British Film Institute, Caught by the River and many more. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in Excavate!: The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall, Common People: An Anthology of Working-Class Writers, 3:AM London, New York, Paris, and Flashback: Parties for the People - by the People. 

 

Adelle holds a BA, MA and PhD by Research in Creative Writing. She is a Burgess Fellow at the University of Manchester and an editorial board member at British Pop Archive Books. 

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Base Notes, her forthcoming memoir, will be published by White Rabbit in 2025.