Simon Maddrell was born in Douglas, Isle of Man in 1965 and brought up in Bolton, Lancashire. He has lived In London since 1999. In 2002, after a 12-year business career, including ten years at Xerox, Simon founded and ran a multi award-winning charity, Excellent Development. In 2016, he resigned as Executive Director to enable him to focus on writing and performing. Driven by his Queer Manx identity, Simon has sought to speak truth in the finest words he can find since 2012. Simon’s main theme is living as a queer man addressing issues from a personal, social and/or political perspective including mental health & suicide, shame & oppression, bullying & prejudice and drugs. He also writes about death & loss; nature & wildlife, Africa & India.