Colin Curruthers

Author of memoir, humour and stage work

Colin Curruthers

Stories shaped by identity, family history, community life and the comedy found in ordinary days.

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No Stone Left Unturned book cover Snapshot book cover
Colin Curruthers

About

Writing from lived experience, place and people.

Colin studied in the North of England and built a varied career as a local government officer, alongside roles in the textile industry, the visitor economy, and the Voluntary, Community, Faith, and Social Enterprise sector.

Drawing on this diverse background, his work offers insight into people, places, and community life. Away from writing, Colin enjoys pursuing his passion for history by metal detecting across local farmland, as well as supporting his beloved football club, Aston Villa.

Books

Published work

No Stone Left Unturned book cover

Memoir

No Stone Left Unturned

A relentless pursuit of the truth to uncover biological parentage.

No Stone Left Unturned is an intimate and emotive account of an adult adoptee's journey, as he spent nearly three decades searching for his biological parents.

Capturing his thoughts, emotions and physical encounters along the way, this rollercoaster ride demonstrates the determination and resilience of an adopted person to achieve his personal quest.

Foyles Blackwell's Amazon Kobo Waterstones Hive
Snapshot book cover

Humour

Snapshot

Getting to know someone a little is better than not knowing them at all.

Step into the brilliantly unpredictable lives of Wayne, Glen and Daphne, three everyday people navigating life with humour, heart and a fair share of chaos.

Warm, witty and irresistibly relatable, Snapshot invites you to laugh, cringe and root for three people just trying to get by.

Waterstones Blackwell's Amazon Foyles Hive

Media and projects

More from Colin

A selection of writing, audio, video and book-related projects.

Podcast

No Stone Left Unturned

Podcast

Snapshot

Interview

Thriving Adoptees

Search results for Learnings From A 28 Year Search with Colin Curruthers.

Visit Thriving Adoptees

Poetry

No Stone Left Unturned in Poetry

A compact poetic retelling of the memoir's long search, uncertainty and eventual closure.

No Stone Left Unturned stage adaptation visual

Coming soon

A new stage play adapted from the memoir

From a childhood shaped by adoption, to decades of searching and shocking revelations hidden in the past, this stage adaptation brings the memoir to life through intimate storytelling, multimedia projections and shifting timelines between past and present.

Dates and venue coming soon.

Contact

Send Colin a message

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No Stone Left Unturned in Poetry

Adopted without knowing,
You are the chosen baby,
Where do I come from?
Where do I fit in?

Message from the abyss,
You'd better come in son,
He has been sent from god,
Your mother is no more.

Waves of inquisitiveness crashing,
Question of fatherhood deepens,
Developing dialogue anticipated,
Selfish bastard, my first glimpse.

Adoption leaves lingering problems
Loss, rejection, identity, the norm?
Plough on regardless,
Being the dreadful baby.

Nail the paternity search, finally?
2020s the year,
A white lie opens the door,
Support emerges at last.

The first transaction of many,
DNA, a whole new world,
NO RELATIONSHIP, the outcome,
Stop crying and go again.

One down, one to go, sounds easy,
He'll never accept the child as is,
Keeping his freedom much longer,
I can't help you, I can't help you, I can't help you.

The justice system could help me, surely?
More costs at my expense,
Helplessness and differentiated anger,
At the mercy of others.

Well-trodden path is non-existent,
Coldplay brought on the tears,
Financial obligations outweigh human rights,
Search journey consumes me at last.

Unexpected DNA test agreement,
Deserted motorways conquered,
Six-million-dollar man he was not,
NO RELATIONSHIP, again the outcome.

Dotting the i's and crossing the t's,
DNA test, third time to be sure,
NO RELATIONSHIP, you guessed it,
Was the search now over?

Pen and paper now the past,
Social media now the norm,
Reaching out to past and present,
Acquaintances, neighbours, nothing doing.

Knight in shining armour arrives,
By the name of Finder Monkey,
Another cheque to be written,
A foothold into the right family lines?

DNA shared with thousands,
Ancestral connections worldwide,
469 fourth cousins or closer,
Genetic evidence at last.

Bureaucracy brings search to a standstill,
Due diligence and checks duty bound,
Positive outlook severely tested,
Green light, ecstatic, game on.

Letters sent to the most likely,
The younger brother of two,
No response triggered initially,
But creeping ever closer to the truth.

Finder Monkey's work is done,
Comfort blanket now gone,
Reliance on new family connections,
Target is now in sight.

Personal approach adopted,
A letter from the heart,
Options not in abundance,
But, he who dares, wins.

Miracles do happen,
Christmas eve, the date,
Acknowledgement from the caller,
My father, yes, my father.

Greatest day commences with Take That,
My heart pounding aplenty,
Seeing and touching biological lineage,
Mentally drained, but closure at last.

If mother was only watching,
The unconventional path I'd trod,
The mammoth search now over,
No stone left unturned, it took.