Tony Stringfellow

Author, poet, artist and sculptor Tony Stringfellow was born in 1957 on May 21st, the son of Pamela and Peter Stringfellow. He was their second son. His brother, Johnny, was killed in a tragic accident in 1955 before Tony was born; he thus had the upbringing of an only child.A midlands boy living in Wolverhampton for most of his life, Tony began his education at St Mary’s and St John’s Junior School before moving to St Chad’s College after passing his eleven plus. It is while at St Chad’s that Tony developed his artistic skills and first started writing being heavily influenced by the music of the time. His poem ‘The Beauty in War’ being written when he was just 14. On leaving school he initially joined Tarmac Construction training as a civil engineer but after completing his ONC left the company, knowing that the role did not suit his artistic temperament. After leaving Tarmac Tony took a position with a local butcher who he had worked for after school since he was 14yrs old, all of his uncles on his mother’s side were also butchers, so it was a trade he had ‘grown up with’. This move was much to the annoyance of his father; however, Tony had his own butchery business within two years. During this period Tony was married for the first time.After a few years as a butcher Tony’s life turned upside down, with his first divorce and selling his butchery business he found a niche that suited his artistic talents, forming a business with his new wife making costumes and props for the entertainment industry. Tony worked in this industry for over 20 years, making puppets and props for legendary performers such as Ken Dodd, Timmy Mallett, Joe Pasquali and many many more, his work has appearing on almost every stage in the country and numerous television programs including a number of Royal Variety Shows. All through his life he has maintained his passion for writing, being somewhat of a ‘closet’ poet drawing inspiration from the emotional turmoil’s in his life, such as the premature death of his parents in 1986, and his second and third divorce. It was when his eldest daughter, Holly, became seriously ill with ovarian cancer at the age of twelve, that Tony made the decision to concentrate all his efforts on his writing career.Since that point Tony Stringfellow has well and truly come out of the wardrobe as a poet and author. His Book ‘The Wizard’s Gown’ about the writings of pop icon Marc Bolan has been acclaimed and his own collection of poetry, ‘Silent Solitudes’ and an audio CD of his work, ‘Naked Therapy’ has been extremely well received, even featuring in a living exhibition of poetry at The Poetry House in New York. Tony performs regularly with a Shropshire based poetry collective, Spoken Worlds as well as in his own right and has a number of projects soon to be published, including more poetry, adult fiction and children’s stories. His direct and uncompromising approach to his writing has seen him dubbed as ‘an antidote to apathy’ by his readers.Tony has five children and now lives in Shropshire with his wife.