A celebrated poet who spent her teenage years clubbing on Colwyn Bay Pier says music helped bring together different “tribes” during one of the most vibrant eras of North Wales youth culture.

Acclaimed writer Patience Agbabi has released her new young-adult verse novel Wonderland on May 14, inspired in part by her own experiences growing up on the North Wales coast during the 1980s, when Northern Soul collided with the Mod Revival scene.

Set in Colwyn Bay in 1980, Wonderland follows 16-year-old Tamilola, who moves from London to North Wales and struggles to fit in before discovering a Northern Soul club at the end of the pier.

Agbabi says the novel is deeply personal and rooted in memories of nights spent dancing on Colwyn Bay Pier, where live 2 Tone bands, soul records and youth subcultures mixed together.

“I grew up on Colwyn Bay Pier, dancing to Northern Soul and live 2 Tone bands,” she said. “When it was demolished in 2018, I was devastated and wanted to bring it back to its heyday.”

The author described the scene as a place where music crossed social boundaries and brought together young people from different backgrounds and styles.

Wonderland captures the atmosphere of a changing seaside town where mods, soul fans and other youth “tribes” found common ground through music, fashion and nightlife.

Agbabi, who was born in London in 1965 to Nigerian parents and fostered by a white English family, spent much of her teenage years in North Wales. She later studied English Language and Literature at Pembroke College before gaining an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Sussex.

Known for blending literature and performance, Agbabi’s work explores identity, race, gender and belonging, often drawing on influences ranging from rap and disco to traditional English poetry.

In Wonderland, Tamilola finds herself immersed in the energy of the Northern Soul scene while tensions simmer with a rival nightclub.

The novel has already attracted praise from leading writers.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce, the former UK Children’s Laureate, described it simply as: “Do I Love It? Indeed I Do!”

Writer Luke Palmer called the book “a note perfect homage to time and place”, while Jasbinder Bilan praised its “booming heartbeat of Welsh Northern Soul”.

Publisher Penny Thomas of Firefly press said: “Patience is an outstanding poet and storyteller and has captured an essence of youth culture in this energetic new novel of time and place. We’re delighted to be publishing Wonderland as part of our Firefly Modern Wales series.”

Agbabi’s previous children’s novel, The Infinite, won Wales Book of the Year for children’s fiction in 2021.

With Wonderland, she hopes to preserve a vivid snapshot of North Wales youth culture and the soundtrack that united a generation on the pier at Colwyn Bay.