Joel Stickley

Joel Stickley is a writer and performer. His work has been featured on Radio 4, Radio 3, BBC7, BBC Scotland, ITV and BBC Choice. As a member of Aisle16, he has performed at Glastonbury, the Edinburgh Fringe, Port Eliot Lit Fest, the Latitude festival and a whole clutch of literary events across the country. Aisle16’s comedy theatre show Poetry Boyband was named as Time Out’s Critics’ Choice of the Year in 2005, while The Sunday Times described them as "highlights of the spoken word scene."

Co-authored with Luke Wright, his book Who Writes This Crap? is available in Penguin paperback. The Guardian called it “an inspired piece of parody.” The live show of Who Writes This Crap? had a critically acclaimed sell-out run at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe, receiving four stars from The Scotsman, Fest, ThreeWeeks and The List and attracting more than a thousand punters over the course of the run. It toured UK theatres in 2009.

Joel is a tutor at the Open University, where he teaches an advanced course in Creative Writing. He is also a reader for The Literary Consultancy and does work in schools through Creative Partnerships. Through the Vital Communities programme, he is writer in residence for the village of Wisbech St Mary.

His latest project, the writing blog How To Write Badly Well, has attracted over 125,000 visitors since its launch in October 2009.

“His use of language, his ability to twist the narrative and turn the obscure into the profound is outstanding.”
The Stage

“Devastatingly funny.”
ThreeWeeks

“A must-read.”
Metro

“Finds profound beauty in an age of spin and emoticons.”
The List

“Leaves no brand of modern toxic text unscorned.”
The Independent

“The language may be parodic, but its effect is to cripple with inanity and short-circuit the very idea of communication.”
Scotland On Sunday