Adrian Plass (born 1948) is a British author and speaker who writes primarily Christian humour, but also

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

, Bible commentaries and novels with a more serious tone. His most popular books are a series concerning ''The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass'' which is a humorous, fictional satire of Christian life and which has sold over a million copies worldwide.

Early life

Plass was born in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

. He worked as a residential child care worker with disadvantaged children for several years before suffering a breakdown and then embarking on a career as a writer. The first thing he ever published was "The Visit", a novella in which a fictional local church in England is visited by Jesus (published in England originally as part of the short stories collection ''The Final Boundary'', but as a standalone illustrated edition in 1999). The German translation of this novella, "Der Besuch", was made into a 40-minute film in 2006. He recorded some of his experiences as a youth worker in the fictionalised ''Broken Windows, Broken Lives''. Plass is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

. Plass lived in Tunbridge Wells

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and Hailsham

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

for most of his life before moving in 2010 with his wife Bridget to

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, England to live in the Scargill House community. In 2012 they moved to County Durham, where they now live.

Career

Plass' most popular book ''The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass Aged '', the title of which parodies

Sue Townsend Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole. After writing ...

's Adrian Mole books, is a humorous, fictional satire of Christian life. Plass followed this up with ''The Horizontal Epistles of Andromeda Veal'' in 1988 and ''The Theatrical Tapes of Leonard Thynn'' in 1989 to create the ''Sacred Diary Trilogy''. He returned to the Sacred Diary proper with a sequel in 1996, called ''The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass Christian Speaker Aged 45'', in which as a prominent Christian speaker he tours Australia with his fictional wife Anne and son Gerald. A third in the series, ''The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass, on Tour: Aged Far Too Much to Be Put on the Front Cover of a Book'' was published in 2004. By 2005 this series had sold over a million copies worldwide. He travels around Britain and the world as a speaker. Some of his early talks and sketches are brought together in the books ''Cabbages for the King'' (1993) and ''Clearing Away the Rubbish'' (1988). From 2001 to 2006, Plass teamed up with

Focus on the Family Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations ...

Radio Theatre in their original miniseries ''Father Gilbert Mysteries'' to provide the voice of the lead character, Father Louis Gilbert, a former London police detective who became an

priest and now solves spiritual mysteries in the fictional

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

village of Stonebridge. In 2006, Plass published his book ''Blind Spots in the Bible'', in which he looks at forty passages in the Bible that have troubled him in the past. Reviewing this book, ''The Church Times'' said that he "treated the biblical text with kid gloves" so the investigation is personal application with "a great deal of autobiographical material (probably too much)", and concludes that "there is a great deal to mull over". ''The Church of England Newspaper'' says that "although it would be unrealistic to claim that Plass has solved all the mysteries, he does offer interesting theories which lead to one major conclusion", that is "a Caring God", and concludes there is "much to think about", although fundamentalist Christians may not agree with the author. A final instalment to the ''Sacred Diary'' series, "Adrian Plass and the Church Weekend" was released in 2013. It was previewed from 11 to 22 March during his UK "Riding the Storm" tour organised by the Sailors' Society, one of his favourite charities. His novel "Silver Birches" (published in 2009), was turned into a film directed by Randall Stevens, with

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

Mark Freiburger Stephen Mark Freiburger (born July 16, 1983) is an American filmmaker. Early life and education * Graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2005. Film work * Writer/Director of the upcoming feature film ''Follow By ...

and starred

Natasha Little Natasha Emma Little (born 2 October 1969) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Edith Thompson in the film '' Another Life'', Lady Caroline Langbourne in the BBC miniseries ''The Night Manager'', and Christina Moxam in the B ...

Anna Acton Anna Acton (born 29 January 1977) is an English actress who is best known for her roles as Rochelle Barratt, the wife of a borough commander, in the ITV television series ''The Bill'', and DC Emma Summerhayes in the BBC One soap opera ''East ...

and

Todd Carty Todd Carty also known as Todd John Jennings (born Todd Robert Carty; 31 August 1963) is an English actor and director who has grown up on television screens in a variety of roles. His stage appearances have ranged from pantomime to serious dram ...

Bibliography

''Sacred Diary'' series

*''The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass Aged 37'' (1987) *''The Horizontal Epistles of Andromeda Veal'' (1988) *''The Theatrical Tapes of Leonard Thynn'' (1989) *''The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass Christian Speaker Aged 45'' (1994) *''The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass, On Tour'' (2004) *''The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass, Adrian Plass and the Church Weekend'' (March 2013)

Spin-off stationery

*''The 1989 Sacred Diary: plan your year with Adrian Plass'' (includes extracts from ''The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass Aged 37'') Basingstoke, Hampshire 1988 ISBN 0-551-01742 2

''Stress Family Robinson'' books

*''Stress Family Robinson'' (1995) *''The Birthday Party'' (1999)

Other novels

*''Broken Windows, Broken Lives'' (1988) *''An Alien at St.Wilfred's'' (1992) *''A Year at St. Yorick's'' (1998) *''Ghosts: The Story of a Reunion'' (2001) *''Silver Birches'' (2009) *''The Shadow Doctor'' (2017) *''Shadow Doctor: The Past Awaits'' (2019)

Collections

*''The Final Boundary'' (1987) *''Clearing Away the Rubbish'' (1988) *''The Visit and Other Short Stories'' (1991) *''Father to the Man'' (1997) *''Nothing But the Truth'' (2002) *''And Jesus Will Be Born'' (2003) *''Best in Plass: Stories, Songs, Poems, and Sketches'' (2010) *''Silences and Nonsenses'' (poems) (2010) *''Still Crazy'' (2022)

Other works

*''A Smile on the Face of God'' (1990) *''View From A Bouncy Castle'' (1991) *''Cabbages for the King'' (1993) *''The Unlocking'' (1993) *''You Say Tomato'' (1995) (with Paul McCusker) *''When You Walk'' (1997) *''City of Gold'' (1997) *''Words from the Cross'' (1997) *''The Visit: Would You Be Ready?'' (1999) *''Philip Illott'' (1999) *''Why I Follow Jesus'' (2000) *''Colours of Survival'' (2000) (with Bridget Plass) *''From Growing Up Pains to the Sacred Diary'' (2002) *''Never Mind the Reversing Ducks'' (2002) *''The Heart of the Family'' (2003) *''The Son of God is Dancing'' (2005) (with Bridget Plass) *''Jesus — Safe, Tender, Extreme'' (2006) *''Blind Spots in the Bible'' (2006) *''Bacon Sandwiches & Salvation'' (2007) *''Looking Good, Being Bad'' (2009) *''Growing Up Following Jesus'' (2009) *''Seriously Funny: Life, Love and God . . . Musings Between Two Good Friends'' (2010) (with Jeff Lucas) *''War of the Worlds'' (2012) *''Seriously Funny (2): Life, Love and God . . . Musings Between Two Good Friends'' (2012) (with Jeff Lucas) *''All Questions Great and Small'' (2016) (with Jeff Lucas)

References

External links

Interview with Plass at Premier.tv
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plass, Adrian Living people English humorists English religious writers English short story writers 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English Anglicans Anglican writers People from Royal Tunbridge Wells 1948 births English male short story writers English male novelists 20th-century British short story writers 21st-century British short story writers 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers