Scribblings of a Madman
by Paul Tristram
Paul Tristram is a modern day social commentator who can weave tales about life, love and the joy of intoxication into a variety of formats that use a combination of anarchic words and working class observations to create pieces of fiction that are both unique and horoughly unforgettable. Although Punk may have had its day, through this writer, I can see that its spirit is far from dead.
—Lisa Knight, Imaginalis (London)
Paul Tristram mesmerizes with humor and stark reality, causing the reader to ponder and see the world and its characters in a different light of awareness.
—Stephen Jarrell Williams, Dead Snakes (USA)
Paul Tristram’s writing is as hard-hitting as it is gritty. There’s a wealth of experience in the
viscera of each piece he heaves to the table, butchered and ready for the eyes to feast upon.
—E.S. Wynn, Leaves of Ink (USA)
Paul Tristram was born in the town of Neath, in the Vale of Neath, within the County of West Glamorgan, in the Southern Region of Wales back in the summer of 1970. Was schooled at Cwrt Sart Comprehensive School which straddles the borders of The Melyn and Briton Ferry, were he often received ‘distinctions’ for his work, when he applied himself but that was not very often. He was expelled from school in the fourth year, aged 15 and sent to the day centre at the Notorious ‘Farm School’ up the Cimla, which housed besides the day centre, a residential lock down for juveniles too young to be incarcerated in prison. He stayed there for a few months only before absconding into the backstreets of The Melyn where he was heavily involved in gang activity. After over fifty arrests and two stints in prison, Paul landed at the wonderful age of 18, penniless, no qualifications, a criminal records as long as your arm and adorned with gang and prison tattoos, virtually unemployable. Then one night he wrote a poem, it just slipped out while he was alone and doodling on a notepad, it was to change his life, 3 weeks later he had written another 2 poems, he had finally found himself. He left the gangs and moved 10 miles away to Swansea City (The birthplace of Dylan Thomas) and started bumming around the bars and clubs there until almost insane from drinking, drug taking and barroom brawling. At the age of 23, now armed with over a hundred poems, he packed a bag and jumped on a train heading for England and become a Welsh Gypsy, first basing himself in Gloucestershire and then later in Cornwall and Devon. Immediately after leaving Wales he set about educating himself, firstly with the Classics, then onwards and upwards and often sideways from there, discovering new treasures along the way. Honing his craft continuously until his voice became strong with experience and the once hundred poems turned into over a thousand and short stories and larger works appeared as his skill grew.
