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 small-town 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, Dark Corners of the Land, Cigarettes in Bed, and Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid, were published by Blackheath Books from 2007-2012. The Humber Star, her poem based on experiences of her seafaring ancestors in 19th century Hessle Road, was performed at John Grant's North Atlantic Flux for Hull UK City of Culture 2017. 

 

Adelle’s spoken word has appeared on recordings by Smagghe & Cross and the Eccentronic Research Council. Recently, 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 a journalist, she has written about theatre, film, literature and music for The Quietus, Yorkshire Post, The i, New Statesman, British Film Institute, Domino Records, Caught by the River and many more. 

 

Adelle has taught Creative Writing at York St John, Leeds Trinity and MMU. Her PhD thesis, Writing Andrea Dunbar: Framing the Nonfiction Novel in the Literary North, was awarded by the University of Huddersfield. She is a 2023 Anthony Burgess Fellow at Manchester University's Centre for New Writing and is part of the editorial board at British Pop Archive Books. 

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