Adam is a novelist, memoirist, short story writer, and obsessive list-maker, originally from Manchester but currently living in Newcastle upon Tyne. He has won The Literary Consultancy’s Pen Factor Award and been shortlisted for Penguin WriteNow and the Northbound Book Prize. He has received funding for his writing from Arts Council England, New Writing North, and the Leverhulme Fellowship (for a three-year project, Heroin Babies, beginning in February 2024).

His short piece of memoir “Play” was published in Kit de Waal’s Common People: An Anthology of Working-Class Writers in 2019.

His book about language and lists, The Correct Order of Biscuits, was published by Orion in 2020.

A US version of The Correct Order of Biscuits, called Euphemisms That Get on My You-Know-Whats, was published by Andrews McMeel Publishing in 2021. 

He has appeared at literary festivals in London, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Durham, Oxford, Bendigo, Todmorden, and Huddersfield. He has also appeared on BBC Radio, ABC Radio Melbourne, RTE Radio Ireland and Talk Radio Europe. And he’s been featured in, or written for, The Stylist, Good Housekeeping, The Irish Times, NB Magazine, The Poke, The Knowledge, Harper’s Magazine, The Observer, and New European.

Adam has an MA (distinction) in creative writing from St Mary’s University and a PhD in creative writing from Northumbria University (titled “Punk Rock, Family, and Trauma: Exploring the Childhood Memoir”). As part of the PhD, he produced a memoir about how music shaped his relationship with his dad, Colin Sharp, who was the lead singer of cult band The Durutti Column.

Adam has also written essays and given educational talks on 19th century US abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ visit to Newcastle, as part of an ongoing commemoration campaign that he led. He also project co-ordinated a week-long Frederick Douglass festival, funded by a Heritage Lottery grant, as part of which he wrote a series of educational panels about Douglass, which are permanently displayed at Newcastle Discovery Museum.

Adam is also an editor of a literary journal, The Pomegranate London, and hosts a monthly literary night called Read Them Your Writes.

His latest book, THE WHEEL IS SPINNING BUT THE HAMSTER IS DEAD: A JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD IN IDIOMS, PROVERBS AND GENERAL NONSENSE, was published by Orion on September 28th.